Joyride's End
by Scarlet has Fantasy Issues
Summary: Rayn and her cousin decide to go out for the night. The cousin didn't expect to have much fun, much less meet the man of her dreams and get out from under Rayn's shadow in one night. Razer didn't expect to fall in love, start a family, and lose it all...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: After much work and time spent in front of computers and help from a nice person, this is what I've come up with. A completely and I mean COMPLETELY revamped first chapter to Joyride's End. This should satisfy those who read my story earlier…**

**The nice person who helped make this possible was Blackfire18 and if you haven't read her stories, you should read them. Thanks Blackfire18!!**

**Now, on with the story!**

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

A black haired girl frowned as the blue haired woman beside her rattled on about what they were going to do tomorrow morning before they had to leave. There was nothing in the whole list that came from the girl's mouth that struck the other girl as fun for her. It was all fun for the blue haired girl.

"Rayn, can't we do something _I _want to do?" she asked wearily.

Rayn snorted. "We can do what you want to do when you have money, but since that's not likely to happen for years you'll do what _I_ want to do, Mira. And if you don't like that, I'll have father send you less money for the rest of your school career."

Mira's expression soured. She hated to be reminded that she didn't come from a rich family. She was the only daughter of Krew's favorite sister who had died when Mira was only twelve. Rather than keep her as Rayn's playmate – which could have possibly made the relationship between the two girls a better one – he had sent her off to boarding school to live and learn. There was nothing she could do to change that because she didn't have a clue who her father was though her uncle did say that the man had been a very rich man who found a higher cause than her mother. It was just a load of rubbish meaning in plain English: the man was a rich snob who didn't want to have a child to waste his precious money on.

_Oh I wish I was rich too_, Mira thought with a roll of the eyes. _Then maybe I could afford to buy you some manners, you stupid – _

Her thoughts were interrupted by a couple of wolf whistles. She glanced past Rayn as the two of them stopped and saw a couple of boys sitting on their combat cars, watching them with smiles on their faces.

_No, _Mira thought enviously. _They're not looking at __**us**__. They're looking at __**her **__and she loves every second of it. They're not interested in a flat, bony broad like me…They want someone who has something to offer on the physical level…_

That seemed to be the story of Mira's life. All the boys from the all boys' school flocked towards Rayn. The blue haired daughter of Krew could have any of them that she wanted and the chances were that she had either already had them or was going to get to them first. Everyone back at school worshipped her because she had the weekly allowance of 10,000 orbs and was known to give away presents to the people she liked the most. And that never included Mira. No, Mira only got the second hand rubbish that Rayn was bored with.

"Can we offer you and your friend a ride somewhere darling?" one of the boys asked with a suggestive smile.

Mira crossed her arms. "We aren't friends and I'm not getting in a car with a dolt like you."

"Mira, be nice to the poor fellow," Rayn ordered with an apologetic smile at the boys. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but I'm afraid that I have to baby sit this little brat so I'll have to pass on the rides now. Thanks for the offer though."

"Anytime," the other said with a smile.

Rayn grabbed Mira by the wrist and pulled her away. "Talk to someone like that again when they clearly are talking to me and I will be forced to beat you senseless. This is my town, not yours."

"It's neither of ours," Mira reminded her cousin, wrenching her wrist out of her cousin's viselike grip. "It belongs to Uncle and that Mizo fellow."

"Well, that will change in a matter of time," Rayn declared confidently. "My father will take control from Mizo and then when he passes on, I will gain control of the family business and the whole damn city. You will just be my aid when I ask for your help."

"You mean 'demand' for it?" Mira glared at her cousin.

Rayn smirked. "Perhaps."

Mira sighed. She had been afraid of that. All of her lessons in the family business were going to be put to use as soon as Rayn gained control of the business. She knew she would become another tool for her cousin that would be discarded without second thought when the girl didn't need her anymore.

"Hmm…I'm thirsty," Rayn announced loudly, tapping her chin. "Where could I find a decent drink at this hour of the night?"

Mira looked around while her cousin pondered. She could see several places that they could go. There were a couple of bars, a café, and a few restaurants. All sounded good to her, but she knew that it wasn't going to be up to her where they were going to go. It was always going to be Rayn's and only Rayn's decision.

"I think we should go to that bar," Rayn said, pointing at a bar at the end of the street called the Bloody Hook. "Dad told me not to take you there because Mizo's gang goes there, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Maybe I can convince those blokes to knock some respect into you."

"So, you want to throw me to the wolves?"

Rayn laughed. "If Daddy would allow it, I would have thrown you to much worse sooner. But what he doesn't know won't hurt him…Come along Mira dear."

Mira sighed as her cousin started walking away, her hips swaying and her head held high. The blue haired woman walked with confidence and power that Mira knew she would never have if she continued to live as Rayn's unwanted shadow. Knowing that, Mira walked slowly after her cousin, thinking about all the things she'd rather be doing at that moment.

"I want to pick my own drink for once," Mira told her cousin as they neared the doors of the depressing looking Bloody Hook. "I'm old enough to choose what I put in my body."

Rayn smirked. "Fine. I'll have the bartender give you the kiddy menu to choose from. Get you a nice root beer or some harmless soda."

"Ha-ha, I'm only seven months younger than you, so don't you act like you're the big bossy adult here because frankly, you're only a prissy seventeen year old," Mira said. "Not to mention a few other adjectives that I would rather not say because they might just hurt your miniscule fragments of emotion that you still possess in your primped up body."

As they usually did, the words didn't make it through Rayn's thick head. She smoothed down the front of her shirt and pushed open the door to the bar. The instant the two girls entered the dark, cool bar Mira knew that she was in for another night of trouble.

The bar was full of thugs, some covered with scars and there were a few with missing limbs, and all eyes turned toward them. Rayn strode over to the bar and sat on the middle stool, placing her hands on her knee and puffing her chest out like some cocky bird. Young and older gentlemen immediately flocked towards her, offering to buy her a drink and started asking her out on dates and offered her a ride in their combat racing cars or zoomers.

Mira sighed again and walked over to the end of the bar, taking a seat on the stool that stood there. The bartender was busy with the large number of men clustered at the middle of the bar, so Mira knew she'd have to wait for service.

"Oh, this is going to be just swell," Mira muttered, drumming her fingers on the counter as she propped her chin up on her hand.

She heard the door open despite the noise coming from the flock of men, but didn't bother to glance over at it. Whoever had just entered was probably going to join the flock and therefore wouldn't offer any decent conversation with her. They'd just become another piece in Rayn's sick little love game.

_Poor fellows don't know that she has them on strings like a puppet master_, Mira thought, watching odd fish swim in the large aquarium that served as a window. _She'll play with them all for awhile before slowly narrowing the field by choice of car, money, looks, and nerve…I don't think any of them stand a chance though because I know she's awfully picky about who she gets in a car with for a joyride…_

She was aware of someone watching her and glanced over her shoulder. Her heart stopped for a brief moment and she fought to keep her mouth from falling open.

There stood Razer, the champion of the Combat Racing series. He was wearing his favorite red coat, black gloves, and had a burning cigarette in between his lips. And Mira was sure that she was his number one fan in the world, but knew that there were others who would love to disagree. With a look over at her invisible cousin, Mira looked back at the fish in the aquarium.

"You're in my seat little girl," Razer said with the accent that Mira liked.

"Get yourself a new seat then because I'm not getting up," Mira muttered, not wanting to give another rich person something that she had as her own. She felt she had done that too many times in her life for one too many rich people. "Besides, it's not like you're going to need a seat once my cousin over there turns her charm on you…You'll fall prey to her like every other bloke with brains in the wrong head."

She had the impression that Razer glanced over at her cousin and the crowd of men around her. Then she saw something remarkable out of the corner of her eye.

Razer did not make his way over to the group or try to catch Rayn's eye. Instead, he took a seat next to Mira and turned his back on the group behind him. Stunned, Mira looked at him.

"I am not one of those men with brains solely in their wrong head," Razer stated, blowing out a thin stream of smoke.

"But why would you want to be over here with me?" Mira demanded. "She's the prettier one. She meets you on the money side of things and she is your…second biggest fan in the world."

Razer smirked. "I have no interest for the pampered little rich girls like Rayn. They have enough personality to fit in a shot glass."

Mira nodded in agreement. "And you'd think with all the money they have that they could just go out and buy a good personality, but no. They'd rather be shallow, narcissistic, self-conscious brats that no one wants except to have a one night stand with." She rolled her eyes. "Their world revolves around them."

"And the worlds of all others should do the same," Razer muttered, tapping the ashes off his cigarette. "In their own almighty opinion."

"Yeah, and if no one else agrees with them, they get so pissed and throw a major temper tantrum," Mira said, propping her chin up on her hand. "Half the time they act like toddlers that were denied a toy in a toy store."

"Half the time? Try all the time little girl," Razer said with a glance over her body. "And what right do you have to talk about prissy little rich girls? Aren't you one?"

Mira looked offended. "Me? A prissy rich girl?" She laughed dryly. "Hardly. I come from the poor end of the rich family, thank you. And I was never spoiled, pampered, or trained to be prissy in any way. Where is the fun in _prissy_? Let's try _rebel_." She looked him over. "And why should you get to make fun of rich people? You're rich."

"I was kicked out the rich people club. Apparently there are rules to follow and I don't follow rules. I make my own."

Rayn's laughter broke the silence between them. Mira thought the blue haired girl was trying too hard, but didn't bother opening her mouth. Instead she glanced down the bar at the bartender.

"I wish he'd come over here," she muttered. "I've been waiting for awhile now and those blokes over there don't seem to be making much headway in who will be able to booze Rayn up…"

Razer smirked. "If it's a drink you want…" He turned and looked at the graying bartender. "Sanders, a moment of you time if you will."

The bartender moved away from the middle of the bar and made his way over to the end. "What can I get you Razer?" he asked. "A scotch? Brandy? Name it."

"A scotch." He glanced at Mira. "And get something fruity for this girl."

Mira bristled with suppressed anger and straightened in her seat. "I am not taking some fruity little drink. I can handle the good liquor. So Mr. Sanders, what's the strongest drink you've got?"

Sanders was hesitant in answering. "There's the Wasteland Brew, but that's not a drink for a lady."

"Good thing I'm not a lady," Mira said with a challenging look. "I'll have one mug of Wasteland Brew and I will pay for it with the money I stole from my cousin's purse, so don't bother offering Razer."

Sanders glanced at Razer uncertainly, but Razer nodded and the bartender got the drinks.

"You're got nerve little girl," Razer commented.

"My name isn't 'little girl'," Mira told him. "My name is Mira and I expect to be called that, seeing as it's my name."

Razer smirked and took a drag on his cigarette, studying her. He didn't say anything as Sanders presented them with their drinks. Mira reached over and grabbed her mug without hesitation.

"Now, Ms. Krew, don't say that I didn't warn you," Sanders said. "This is a powerful drink and it would knock even the biggest bum on his ass."

Mira shrugged a shoulder and took a hearty swig. She cocked an eyebrow and set the mug down. "And you say that this is the strongest stuff?" she asked.

"Yes."

"It's not that bad," Mira muttered. "It only tickles the throat on the way down and burns the tongue, leaving a nasty aftertaste. But other than that, it's pretty weak."

Sanders looked amazed. Razer smirked.

Mira glanced over at her cousin when she heard the false laughter cease. The blue haired girl was looking over the trio at the end of the bar with surprise. That surprise turned to cold fury and Mira watched the blue haired girl start processing the fact that Razer wasn't over there, vying for her attention. Instead, he was talking to Mira. He was having a drink with Mira. Not with her.

"Uh-oh," Mira muttered, looking back down at her drink. "You've attracted the attention of the beast…"

Razer didn't even bother looking over at the group behind him. "Have I? If she has noticed, then she can remain where she is, watching. I will not come for her."

Mira frowned. "Do you even want her?"

A dark eyebrow quirked up. "Jealous?"

"What's there to be jealous of?" Mira shot back. "It's not like she'd keep you for very long if you did manage to win her over. That's the story of a prissy rich girl's love life. They keep their man for as long as they can drain him of his money and precious time and then they dump him without a care, ready to move onto the next sucker." She glanced him over out of the corner of her eye. "You don't look like one of those easily suckered types. But I've never been that good of a judge of people, so I could be wrong."

Mira tapped her fingernails against the sides of her mug, staring at the fish in the aquarium again. She could feel Razer's eyes on her and almost hear the wheels in Rayn's head turning as the blue haired woman formulated her evil little plans to make Razer part of her game.

_Why do all men have to be the same to her? _Mira asked herself. _There are some decent chaps out there who have ladies counting on them to show up as their knight in shining armor and she takes them away for awhile. Is there ever going to be a man that she can't have first? Is there going to be a guy that would prefer someone like me over someone like her?_

Mira rolled her eyes. _Of course there could be, but I'll never find him. I'll be attached to Rayn's side and she'll only let me have my pick of her dismissed blokes. And I know none of them are worth it once she's sunk her greedy little claws into them._

"Mira, why don't you introduce me to your new friend?" Rayn's voice broke into Mira's thoughts.

Mira turned in her seat and looked at her cousin. "You already know him, seeing as you scream at the television every time he comes on it. Even if you didn't, you'd know him as your father's enemy."

"Mira, where are your manners?" Rayn asked through clenched teeth. She turned a catlike smile on Razer. "It's nice to finally meet you, Razer," she purred, offering her hand out.

Mira thought for a moment that Razer was about to take the hand that Rayn offered to him. Instead, he tapped some ashes onto the pale hand that was outstretched to him. Rayn looked slightly horrified for a moment.

"I know," Razer said, putting his cigarette back in between his lips.

_Score one for the champion_, Mira thought with a smirk.

Rayn brushed away the ashes and put a hand on her hip, puffing her chest out a little more. "Razer, you seem to forget who you are talking to. I am the daughter of Krew and I am extending a hand out in friendship."

"He declined the offer," Mira pointed out.

"Mira, stay out of this!" Rayn hissed through her teeth again. "Razer, perhaps we could talk over a drink…Business talk. Perhaps we could make a deal…"

"We could," Razer agreed. "You'd need to buy your own drink because I came shortchanged today."

Rayn smiled and reached into her purse, pulling out orbs. Mira stood up just as Rayn sat down and placed some orbs on the counter.

"Thanks for the drink Sanders," Mira muttered. She leaned close to Razer's ear. "And stay out of _my_ seat, I'll be right back."

She could feel his eyes on her backside as she walked over to the women's restroom and disappeared behind the safety of its wooden door. She glared at the person in the grimy mirror and stuck her tongue out at them. They copied her.

_Oh yes, this will be the highlight of your whole vacation_, Mira thought bitterly, staring back at the moss green eyes of her reflection. _The girls will love to hear how you were talking to Razer and ended up going into the bathroom to make faces at your reflection. Then they'll find out that Rayn was having a drink with him and their attention will instantly be hers. A simple girl can't have real friends when she's related to the blue haired goddess of money and broken hearts. A simple girl can't have a conversation with the man that she's fantasized being with since she found out that guys didn't have cooties. I mean, c'mon! Who wouldn't want a hot, twenty-nine year old champion? Obviously not Rayn because she's out there with him…talking to him, laughing with him…fantasizing about him…_

Mira glared at her reflection and felt her fingers tighten on the sides of the stone sink to the point that it hurt. "It's not fair."

The door handle turned behind her and Mira watched the door through the mirror, willing whoever it was to go away. She knew it was probably Rayn, coming to fix her makeup. The blue haired woman would probably gloat about how she was going to have a nice night with Razer. Mira could even hear the blue haired brat _thanking _her for keeping Razer busy long enough for her to see the man.

_Of all the nerve_, Mira thought angrily, glaring down at the white showing through the skin on her hands. _I know she'd do that…she'd do it or she'd completely hog the credit. It'd be so like her. God, I hate that woman!_

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer had watched the raven haired girl head into the bathroom. He was no expert in women, but he could tell from the simple fact that she had left her purse that she hadn't gone in there to fix her makeup. She had gone in there out of defeat when her cousin had sat down at his other side, ready to order a drink that the blue haired brat thought she could share with him over talk of business.

He reached over and pulled the small, battered leather purse close. He could feel how light it was and knew that the girl hadn't lied when she had said that she had come from the low end of the rich family of Krew. No rich girl would have let her purse get this ragged without going out and buying the latest fashion of handbag to replace it. And no rich girl would have been caught with such a light purse when the purse carried all their essential beauty products.

"So, shall we talk?" Rayn asked, smiling at him.

Razer noticed that the top two buttons on Rayn's shirt were conveniently popped open. The girl was being too obvious in her attempts to seduce him and even if she wasn't, it wouldn't do her any good. He wasn't looking for someone like her.

"No." Razer said, standing up.

Rayn pouted. "What? You have got to be joking."

Razer ignored the blue haired girl's muttering as he walked over to the bathroom that the raven haired girl had vanished into. He could hear her muttering to herself quietly and didn't bother knocking. The instant that he turned the door handle, the girl fell silent in there. He opened the door open wide enough to see her standing in front of the mirror, hands tightly gripping the sides of the sink. Her expression turned from defeat to one of confusion.

"What do you want?" she demanded in a flat voice. "Because if you're looking for a place to shag my cousin, you won't find it in here. I'm staying here until I can think of a way to get back to Uncle's mansion…with or without her."

Razer slipped into the girl's bathroom and showed her the purse that he had in his hand. "You forgot this. Can't have a girl's makeup get all runny because she can't handle her cousin."

Mira shook her head. "The only makeup I have in there is a concealer and chapstick. And there are a handful of orbs in there, but that's it." She looked over her shoulder at him. "See? I'm not a prissy little rich girl."

Razer crossed the small room and put the purse on a hook that was attached to the wall. "No. You're a sad little girl. You're a weakling."

Mira glared at him and poked him in the chest. "You have no idea how long I've lived with this! You don't know me! And I'm sure as hell not going to let you get off on my problems with my cousin just because I like you!" She took a step closer. "I am not weak. I was beaten down. If I don't give her what she wants, she'll make trouble for me."

"Everyone needs a healthy dose of trouble in their lives," Razer said calmly, not bothered by the fact that she had touched him rougher than he thought she could. "It makes life that much more entertaining."

Mira sighed and grabbed her purse, shouldering it. "I don't see how you could want more trouble from the Krew family. Even if you come after me, my uncle will still make your life a nightmare. He'll make _my _life a nightmare for letting myself get mixed up in all of this so soon."

"Do you always do what Krew tells you to do?" Razer inquired.

"Well, no…I work on combat cars and race them in midnight races back at school and he told me he never wanted me to get in one…"

"Then why are you worried about a little trouble?"

Mira sighed and hugged herself, looking at the door as if expecting her cousin to show up at any moment. "I just…I want to have fun without her telling me what to do…That's all I want, but that's not going to be possible because –"

Razer walked over and pressed her back against the dirty wall. She gasped and looked up into his cold blue eyes. She didn't look afraid, in fact, she looked kind of amused that he had done that to shut her up. He could hear her heart beating a little faster almost like it was expecting something from him.

Razer smirked and looked down at her. "If it's fun you want, I say you ditch your cousin for once in your life and actually live."

Mira bit her bottom lip and Razer found it odd that it made her appear cuter when she was nervous. "I…What exactly do you plan to do with me?"

"You'll never know if you continue to hide in the ladies' room for the rest of the night." He lowered his face closer to hers. "So, are you in little girl?"

Mira nodded, not as enthusiastically like he was used to, but it was a nod. She looked pretty for a school girl, even if she hadn't filled in yet. He felt almost drawn to her and before he knew what he was doing, his lips were drawing closer to hers.

The door broke the moment when it opened and standing there was a fuming Rayn. Her eyes narrowed as they landed on the two of them pressed against a wall, their bodies almost touching all the way. Razer could tell that the sight was almost killing her from the inside.

"Have you never heard of knocking?" Razer asked, pushing himself away from Mira, who looked almost disappointed.

"_Mira_," Rayn hissed the word like it was the most disgusting word she had ever encountered. "It's time to go home. Father will be expecting us."

Mira moved as if she was going to walk over to Rayn, but Razer threw an arm out, catching the girl across the chest. She glared at him, something in her eyes telling him that she wasn't going to go anywhere if he let her be near her cousin for just a moment. So, he let her go.

The raven haired girl strode over to her cousin, standing tall for the first time that Razer had seen her stand. Rayn sneered as her cousin approached her, her hand looking ready to strike the girl for doing something that she viewed as wrong.

"Now Rayn dear," Mira crooned in a mocking tone of voice. "Why don't you run off and go to your daddy? It's time for the rebels to come out and play for awhile."

"Mira, you have to listen to me."

"No. I don't. Not anymore."

Razer walked past them, brushing his arm against Mira's. He felt the girl's eyes turn onto him and heard her push past her cousin to follow him like an obedient puppy.

"Mira, it's time to go home!!" Rayn snapped.

A moment later, he heard the sound of someone being struck. He turned and saw Mira holding her hand, poised to hit her stunned cousin again. Rayn was clutching her cheek with stunned eyes that were watering.

_So the girl does have some backbone_, Razer thought with an amused smirk.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira stood there, shocked at what she had just done and how glad she was to have done it. Rayn was looking at her as if she was a psychopath and Mira could feel others looking at her the same way. She could tell there was a smirk on Razer's face even though she had her back to him.

"Mira…how could you?" Rayn demanded, letting her hand drop to reveal the red mark Mira's hand had left behind. "We're cousins."

"That's all we are. Cousins." Mira said bitterly. "You haven't been my friend in years and I've been your servant for as long as we haven't been friends. Well, not anymore. I've had enough of that. Now, I'm going to do what I want and you're going to let me. If not, I could slap you again."

"I'll – I'll tell father!" Rayn threatened.

"Good. Trouble makes life…entertaining," Mira muttered, turning her back on her cousin.

She walked over to Razer and smirked up at him. "Shall we go now?" she asked calmly.

Razer turned and led the way out of the bar. Mira glanced over her shoulder as she followed him and saw Rayn regrouping. The blue haired girl looked livid as she stormed after the two of them.

Razer held the passenger side door of his combat racing car open for her like a gentleman. Mira climbed in and smoothed the front of her skirt after putting the seatbelt on. Rayn appeared once Razer had closed the door.

"There's only room for two," Mira told her cousin as she rested her arm along the open window.

Rayn's fingernails dug into Mira's arm as the girl gripped it. "Father will not be pleased with you…And if this bloke brings you back alive, you better sleep with one eye open because I will _kill _you!"

Mira shrugged a shoulder and glanced to her left as Razer got in the driver's side. "It's not like you haven't tried before…This isn't any different. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out for a night of fun on my own terms."

Rayn let go of Mira's arm when the engine of Razer's Havoc roared to life. Mira could see the cold fury in Rayn's eyes through the rear view mirror as the car tore out of the parking lot of the Bloody Hook. The blue haired woman continued to shrink and then she was gone as the Havoc made a turn around a corner.

Mira sighed and settled back against the soft leather of the seat. "I am going to be in so much trouble…" She smiled. "And oddly, I'm all right with that."

Razer smirked and flicked his cigarette out the window. "Good because we're just getting to the fun part."

Mira's eyes sparkled and she looked out the window at the world passing them by in a blur of gray and black. She couldn't wait to have some real fun for the first time in years.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer did not disappoint Mira that night. He took her all over Kras City, through ritzy neighborhoods and the slums. They even managed to get into an illegal drag race and of course, Razer won before the cops showed up. From there, Razer led the cops on a high speed chase all over town, taking the back streets and sneaking through alleys that the cops couldn't maneuver through as well as he could. All the while, Mira was cheering for Razer and laughing as the car slid through the turns, sometimes even scraping against the wall.

The joyride lasted until well past midnight, but Mira wasn't feeling too sleepy. She was too excited to be sleepy. Even as she leaned against the hood of Razer's car outside the gate of her uncle's mansion, she was happily replaying the joyride through her head over and over again.

"You may not know this, but this was the first joyride I've ever been on," Mira commented with a glance over at Razer.

"I find that hard to believe," Razer muttered, lighting a fresh cigarette. "The boys probably flock towards a girl like you when the blue haired brat from Hell is nowhere to be seen."

"You'd think that," Mira said with a sigh. "But most boys are turned off by a girl interested in fixing cars up. And there is no way I'm taking sloppy seconds from Rayn. That's why I can't wait until I graduate in two years. Then I can come out from under Rayn's shadow and go out in the world to find someone out there who I can go on joyrides with no matter how late the hour is."

She glanced up at the grand mansion on the hill behind the gate with sadness. "I won't let them rule my life anymore when I graduate. I'll be my own person. I'll fall in love with someone that Rayn can't touch and I'll be happy."  
Razer's hand grazed the back of hers. "You don't have to look hard for men who wouldn't want that brat."

Mira's gaze turned to his. "I guess not. There are guys out there like you who won't want a thing to do with Rayn and I'm glad that you've helped me see that. I'm glad that I've met you and I wish that I didn't have to go back to school tomorrow because I would have loved to have another day to get to know the champion of the combat racing series."

Razer smirked. "There will be time for that later. But now I think it's time for the little girls to be off to bed."

Mira frowned as she looked back up at the mansion. "I guess you're right. I can't say that I'll have much sleep tonight, but I'll survive. Rayn's aim sucks."

She straightened and started off, but Razer's black gloved hand caught hers. She glanced at him with a question in her eyes.

"Goodnight Mira," Razer said, letting her hand go.

Mira smiled slightly. "Goodnight Razer."

Razer looked slightly annoyed with himself as Mira walked over to the gate and disappeared behind it. Mira had thought that maybe he was going to end up kissing her before he let her go, but she shook her head, thinking that only overly excited fan girls would have expected that.

_That or they would have pounced on him and sucked his face off_, Mira thought with a glance back at Razer as the Havoc tore off into the night. _I had a great night though._

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira stifled a yawn as she stood at the ferry docks, waiting for the ferry to show up. It was already ten minutes late, but that didn't bother her. She wanted to stay in Kras City as long as she possibly could so she could savor the memories she had enjoyed playing back all night. Of course, Rayn and Krew thought differently and wanted the two girls to get back to school as soon as possible.

She had received one major talking to from her uncle when she had made it into the mansion. Rayn had proved very creative in what Mira had done, claiming that Mira had left Rayn in the midst of rapists and murderers to fend for herself after beating her senseless and robbing her. Mira hadn't bothered to convince her uncle differently because she had known that it wouldn't do anything to aid her. Krew favored his daughter and he would only make her punishment worse if she tried to worm her way out of it.

So, she was grounded indefinitely. She wasn't allowed to leave school grounds until she graduated and then she was going to be forced to live in the mansion under supervision for years after that. Only if her uncle died would her punishment be lifted and Mira knew better than to hope that the old man would die soon. She didn't even want him to die because he was probably the only family member she had left that she cared for most of the time.

Her friends were huddled around Rayn, who was talking animatedly about the celebrities she had encountered and dined with. From where Mira stood, she could hear Rayn's lies about hanging out with Razer at a ritzy bar that Mira had never heard of before. And the girls were eating it up like they couldn't have enough of it.

"What a liar," Mira muttered, shaking her head in disapproval. "Can't even get her facts straight for a moment."

The smell of cigarette smoke met her nose, but it wasn't an overpowering, disgusting scent. It was familiar and welcome even after one night of exposure.

"That has never been one of her strong points," Razer said, appearing next to her with one hand shoved in his red coat pocket.

"No, it hasn't," Mira agreed, only looking at him through the corner of her eye. "What are you doing here? Come to see me off, have you?"

"I thought another dose of trouble would do good for the both of us," Razer commented with a smirk in her direction.

Mira couldn't help but smile. "What do you have in mind now? Because it's not like I can race off into the sunrise with you at the moment. I have to go back to school."

"I have unfinished business with you," Razer announced calmly, flicking his cigarette aside. "And I'm not letting you leave until I've taken care of it."

Mira turned to face him full on. "What exactly have we left unfinished?" she demanded. "Do I have some money that I owe you for the paint damage? Or some unknown ransom money?"

"No."

Razer grabbed her and kissed her roughly. Mira could hear her friends squealing as they watched this. She could picture Rayn's infuriated expression in her mind's eye as she melted into the kiss. Then it was over and Razer was pulling away.

"Happy now?" Mira asked, placing a hand against her cheek to find that it was burning.

Krew was yelling profanities and calling for his bodyguards to do something about Razer's presence. Razer smirked.

"Yes. I believe that will do for now," he said. "Now run along like a good girl and go to school. I will see you in two years if not sooner."

Mira smiled and held her hand out to him. He took it gently in his large hand and shook it. "In two years then," Mira said. "Maybe we can have another joyride or a drink."

Razer nodded. "Now go. You're about to become popular."

Mira glanced over at her friends and noticed that they were all racing towards her, leaving Rayn behind to fume. "You better go too," she muttered with a glance in his direction.

But he was already gone. Floating video cameras zoomed around her and Mira bowed her head, hurrying onto the ferry with all eyes on her for the first time in a long time. And she liked it a little, but found a place in the back of the ferry where she was partially hidden by the fog.

_This was one swell vacation_, Mira thought happily, setting her bags down. _And in two years, I get to do it all over again…hopefully._

"MIRA!!!" her friends screamed, rushing towards her. "Tell us everything!!"

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**A/N: And we'll leave the story there for a little while or at least until I edit the second chapter and get some reviews. I welcome those who that have reviewed me before to give me your opinion of this edit. Do you like what I've done? Or do you still think that this is a bad story and should be deleted? Let me know via review and I'll be one happy camper.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to the people who have reviewed me. I just re-edited this chapter and I hope that you like it. (Be warned that I kept the last part of the chapter the same and won't change anything after this point unless it's absolutely necessary. My brain can't handle all this rewriting.) So, without further ado, here is the next chapter in the Joyride's End story…**

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Two years later…**

Mira ran a hand over her skirt as she stepped off the ferry. Two years had passed since she had stepped a foot in Kras City. It had been two years ago that she had had a wonderful night of adventure with the great Razer. It had only been a few months since her uncle had passed away and a year since Rayn had graduated.

_And now she's the boss of the city_, Mira thought, picking up her bags. _She says she'll be better than Uncle and Mizo, but I don't know if it's possible for a crime lord to do good for the people…_

She looked up at the large screen outside of the ferry dock and saw that there was a race going on. The new 'color' of the industry, Pecker, was doing a running commentary, but Mira wasn't paying attention to him. She was eyeing the line of racers, looking for the champion who had come out of retirement during the last racing season. Of course he wasn't there, but that new racer, Jak, was.

Oh how she hated Jak like the rest of the girls at school! He had come out of nowhere with that loser group her Uncle had put together and always beat Razer. He and Razer would always be neck and neck on the way to the finish line, but he'd somehow win. All of the girls felt that he had cheated somehow and booed at the television – some had even burst into tears – whenever his ugly blonde mug had shown on the screen.

Mira shook her head and continued walking. She didn't have time to worry about the blonde racer. She had to pass three hours of time by herself before seeing the new heiress of the family business. And it would be at that time that Mira would become the new aid to the family business, forced to deal with pesky clients and confusing paperwork while the heiress lounged about at a spa and dished out death orders to people who threatened her.

"I suppose I could get reacquainted with the town," Mira muttered to herself, adjusting the strap of her pack which contained most of her meager belongings. "Though I doubt much has changed about this crummy old city."

As she walked around Kras City, she noticed the stares people were throwing in her direction. It was refreshing to know that people could look at her without having to see through her perfect cousin. It brought back memories of that night with Razer that she had treasured since it had occurred.

Mira didn't try to read between the lines about that night. She knew that he had probably just taken her on a joyride to irritate her cousin, the daughter of his former boss' enemy. She knew that she had just been a game piece in his little twisted game. But part of her thought differently about the situation.

Mira had received several letters from the racer over the last two years and an occasional flower. She had thought that some of the letters were sent to poke fun at her and further enrage her cousin, but that one romantic part of her told her that he was trying to get at something. But she never sent him a letter back because she didn't know what to say. Her friends offered to write the letters for her, but she politely refused. The troubles of a teenage girl, she was sure, would mean nothing to a professional racer. So she had accepted the letters with a racing heart and had kept silent, feeling bad about the silence but incapable of doing anything to change it.

"I bet he hates me," Mira muttered to herself as she walked through the city. "All of those letters – thirty nine letters and twelve flowers – and he gets nothing in return. All I did was scream like a love sick girl whenever his face appeared on the television screen. And there's no way he could have known that I did that or that I dreamed about him." She sighed. "He's probably moved onto the next girl. A blonde probably with an extremely large bust and a beautiful smile like that girl I've seen hanging around the race track on the television. Oh, how I hate that girl!"

Mira brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at her reflection in a shop window. She was pleased to see that she wasn't the little bony, flat girl she had been two years ago. And she could see the lean muscles in her arms that she had worked hard to get by hanging out with the boys from the boys school down the street from her old school. She had a feeling that they would come in handy soon in the kill-or-be-killed city.

Her stomach made an annoying sound, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since that extremely early breakfast of toast and jam. It was well past time to have lunch and Mira had to admit that she was starting to feel a little hungry for even the greasiest food that Kras City had to offer.

A smirk came to her face when she saw the familiar, but depressing Bloody Hook. That was the place where she had found some backbone with the help of the famous champion. Sanders was there too and he had been nice to her even though she had called his Wasteland Brew a weak drink. It was also the place where she was forbidden to enter by both her late uncle and her cousin.

"Well, let's see if the old man still remembers me," Mira said, walking towards the bar.

The Bloody Hook still smelled of stale Wasteland Brew, smoke, and sweat when she entered through the battered wooden doors. This time, there were no decent looking, young blokes in there and she knew that was because they were all out racing their shiny new cars, leaving the older, battle wounded blokes behind to get drunk.

The men watched her warily as she walked towards the bar, probably unsure why she was there instead of in a nicer setting. Mira noticed that Razer's three cronies were at a back table, so deep in discussion that they didn't seem to notice her. As long as they didn't give her any trouble, she was fine to leave them be.

Mira chose a stool close to the end of the bar and waited patiently for Sanders to finish serving another customer. A smile was on the old bartender's face when he saw her and Mira couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Why Ms. Krew, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon," Sanders said. "I thought you'd go and seek out some stronger brew to boast about."

"Now, why would I go and do that?" Mira asked, propping her chin on her hand. "This is the only bar that I was ordered not to go to in the entire city. Why should I resist taking the forbidden fruit and enjoy it?"

"Ah, it warms my heart to see that there are still people who can resist your cousin," Sanders commented, tossing his dirty towel over his shoulder. "Now, what can I get you Ms. Krew? Name anything."

"Do you have any pretzels?"

"Aye."

"Then, I'll take some pretzels."  
"No drink?" Sanders asked, reaching under the bar for a little basket.

"Not at the moment. I have the munchies, not thirst issues."

Sanders busied himself with getting her pretzels. Mira watched him carefully to make sure that he wasn't adding anything special to them out of habit. She needed to know that her food was safe and after living in the same place with Rayn, she knew to keep her eyes on things that would be put in her mouth.

Sanders placed the small basket of pretzels in front of her and walked off to tend to the other customers. Mira nibbled on a loop of a pretzel and looked at the cracked glass of the aquarium window. It struck her as curious as to how such thick glass could have shattered, but she didn't feel like pursuing the cause of the destruction.

The door opened and someone else entered the bar. Mira heard the growls coming from the throats of some of the men in the bar, but didn't bother to turn around to see what the big deal was about.

_It had better not be Rayn_, Mira thought with narrowed eyes. _The old girl isn't supposed to be back in the city for a few hours. _

"Hey Sanders, how about a round of Wasteland Brew for two thirsty racers?" came an annoying voice from Mira's right.

Mira's head turned ever so slightly and her eyes narrowed even more when she saw who was taking a seat in middle of the bar. A furry orange Ottsel was standing on the bar, smiling at Sanders. He wasn't the person that Mira hated even though he had an annoying voice. No, she disliked the blonde who was sitting down on the same stool her cousin had sat on two years prior.

The Ottsel looked down her way and his jaw dropped slightly. Mira rolled her eyes and looked back at the aquarium.

_Men…so easily distracted…_

"Rayn? Did you do something to your hair?" the Ottsel asked, walking over the bar towards her. "Or with your entire body?"

Mira shot him a deadly look. "I'm not Rayn. I'm her cousin."

"Rayn has a cousin?" Jak asked, cocking an eyebrow.

_So he doesn't have brains, _Mira thought with a smirk. _The girls back at school were right. The only thing he has going for him is his looks and even then, he's not that good looking._

"She does." She fixed a cold stare on the blonde. "I'm Mira."

The Ottsel laughed. "What kind of name is that?"

"Daxter!!" Jak snapped, glaring at the furry creature.

"What?" Daxter moved closer to Mira and grabbed a pretzel. "So, how are you doing?"

"I was just peachy until you came here," Mira muttered, pushing the pretzels aside now that they had his germs on them. "Now I think I've lost my appetite."

"Jak and I can take you to a nice place and get your appetite back, right Jak?" Daxter looked at his friend expectantly.

"I don't think so Daxter," Jak muttered, turning his gaze away from Mira when Sanders appeared with their drinks.

"Come on Jak! Let's show this chick a good time!"

Mira laughed dryly. "Oh so think that _you _can show me a good time? I'd have a far better time tipping yakows."

The little furry Ottsel was very persistent. Mira almost gave into him with the hopes that it would shut him up, but she refused. She noticed that Jak had moved to the far end of the bar, leaving her alone with the annoying Ottsel.

"Listen you twit, I don't care if you're the friend of a famous combat racer. That's all fine and dandy, but his name means nothing to me!" Mira snapped, not caring about the gun that resided on Jak's hip. "You two will always be losers to me because you cheated your way through the last racing season just to help my uncle get what he wanted even though he was dead. You stole the victory from the true champion!"

Daxter's eye twitched as he slowly raised a finger and pointed it at her. "Jak, I think we've found a Razer fan girl…"

"I am not a Razer fan girl!" Mira snapped. "I like him, but I'm not about to throw myself at his feet in a fit of squeals and girlish laughter." She sighed and rested her forehead on her hand. "The thing is I just don't like Jak, ok? Now, can you please just leave me alone?"

Daxter shrugged and walked back towards Jak. "That's all you needed to ask to get me going…you didn't have to yell."

Mira frowned after him. "I'm sorry; I'm just really disappointed about the sorry shape the racing season is in these days."

"Join the club," Daxter said before busying himself with his mug of Wasteland brew. "Some newbie won the race today. I hate newbies."

"There will always be other races to win," Mira commented with a smirk. "More important races that'll have you earning more dough. Plus, it'll give you time to find the newbie's weaknesses. I'm sure Jak will be up to number two in no time, maybe even number one if he's lucky when Razer's out there."

Mira knew that talking to him like that was just an attempt to pardon herself for the yelling she had done to him. She wasn't about to become best buds with him, but she felt like she could just have an acquaintanceship with the bloke. She figured that if he was in the town that her cousin ruled over, then she should at least know a little bit about him.

Mira's stomach growled again and she reached absently for the pretzels, chewing one slowly as her eyes turned to the large fish aquarium behind the bar.

"Hey girlie," someone said in a rough voice and Mira tensed up in her seat. "Did I hear you right when you said that you were Rayn's cousin?"

Mira glanced over her shoulder to see a man wearing a wooden mask behind her. _Cutter? What could he possibly want?_

"Yes." Mira muttered, turning back to the aquarium. "Though I don't see why that concerns you Cutter."

"Your cousin has given us nothing but hell since she came to power," Cutter said and his two buds, Edje and Shiv, joined him at the bar, surrounding her.

"I'm sure you're getting what you deserve," Mira said, wishing that she had remembered to bring the small gun in her purse with her. "I seem to remember her saying that you lot aren't following her orders."

"We follow Razer's orders, not some harlot's," Edje grumbled. "And you can tell her that yourself."

Mira shook her head and scooped up another pretzel. "I'll tell her nothing of the sort like I won't tell her that you were bothering me, if you go away right now."

Mira didn't expect them to do as she suggested. They were three fully grown men with muscles and weapons. And they had told her that they only did what Razer told them to do. Why would they listen to her then? She had no power at the moment, no backup. She was helpless.

_But not alone_, Mira told herself, glancing past Shiv at the silent blonde at the end of the bar who was watching her out of the corner of his eye. _If Jak's the hero that Rayn led me to believe he was, he won't let these boys touch me…_

Jak's green eyes did not move from the scene before him even when Daxter jumped up and down in front of his face. Mira smirk turned into a frown when she tuned back into what Shiv was saying.

"I think Ms. Krew gave us a form of payment after all," Shiv was saying and Mira could feel his cold stare on her back. "And who would have thought it'd be in the form of her own cousin?"

Cutter's hard fingers touched Mira's hair, lifting it so that it shimmered in the dim light. "And she even gift wrapped her…"

A knot formed in Mira's stomach. "I am not any kind of payment."

"That's not how we see it," Shiv said and his buds chuckled in agreement.

"Wouldn't your boss be unhappy if he found out that you were messing around with one of his old friends?" Mira asked, hoping that they would leave her alone if they knew that she was close to Razer.

"Razer hasn't talked about any girl fitting your description…I think you're making it up to save your scrawny ass."

Mira frowned and her stomach twisted into another knot. This was not going the way she hoped it would. She wanted out of there. Fast.

"Sanders, I think I'm going to leave now," Mira muttered, standing up. "If you see Razer, can you tell him that I dropped by?"

"Sure thing Ms. Mira," Sanders said, wiping a mug clean.

Mira heard Edje chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Mira, Mira on the wall…Who's the unluckiest one of them all?" Edje said in a rough singsong voice.

Mira gulped and backed into the bar. "You guys really should leave me alone."

"Whatcha gonna do if we don't? Scream like a little girl until someone comes to your rescue?" Cutter demanded, his eyes narrowing behind the mask. He laughed when he saw Mira bite her bottom lip nervously. "No one here is gonna lift a finger to save you, so shut your mouth and take it like a good girl."

Mira squirmed out of his grip and punched Edje in the face. "Keep your hands off of me, you twit!"

She clawed at the hands that reached for her and twisted in their grip when they managed to grab her. She knew that a couple of buttons on her shirt had popped open, but didn't care. She was going to get these men to leave her alone no matter what she had to do.

"Let go of me!!" she snapped when Cutter caught one of her hands and Edje caught the other.

She twisted her body and planted a kick in Cutter's groin. He groaned just as a shot rang out in the bar. Silence fell over the bar as blood dripped from Shiv's cheek. Silently, everyone turned to see Daxter shove the smoking gun into Jak's hand.

"You!" Shiv snarled and he moved towards the blonde at the end of the bar.

Cutter and Edje dropped Mira's hands and followed after the orange haired man.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira sat at the bar, watching the chaos around her. In a matter of minutes after Daxter had shot Shiv, the whole bar had erupted into a large brawl. Tables were upset along with chairs and glasses were flying. She could see the shining of knives and broken bottles as the gruff men started to get rougher with each other.

"Is it always like this?" she asked of Sanders when the old man sighed.

"Pretty much." He shrugged. "Unless Razer's here, that is."

Mira's eyebrow quirked up. She had no idea that Razer could keep an entire group of large, drunken men from beating the living daylights out of one another. Sure, she knew that he was intimidating, but she couldn't quite grasp the idea of him intimidating a large number of men twice his size.

_He's just that good_, Mira decided before jerking forward in her seat suddenly. _That better not be what I think it is!_

She turned her head slowly to find Shiv touching her ass. Her eyes narrowed and her face grew warm. She stood up and punched him in the face. Then a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"You want some too?" she demanded, whirling around. "Oh…it's you."

Mira's anger faltered when she found herself looking up into Razer's deep blue eyes. She smiled uncertainly and ran a hand through her hair.

"You do have a way of getting into trouble, don't you?" Razer's lips twitched at the corner into a half smile.

"Runs in the family, I suppose," Mira mumbled with a look around the room as things started to quiet down. "But don't worry, I can handle these buggers all by myself."

"Oh I'm sure you can," Razer said with a small roll of the eyes.

"I can!" Mira declared, crossing her arms. "Would you like me to demonstrate what I've learned on you first?"

Razer shook his head and looked away. "I see why the boys got so riled up. You've tried to seduce them."

Mira glanced down and noticed that her shirt was partially unbuttoned. Rather than blush over it, she calmly re-buttoned the two free buttons and smiled slightly.

"I'm a big girl and can do whatever I want. Though seducing bums isn't my favorite pastime."

Razer gestured at the bar with a hand. "And this is where you decided to spend your time as a big girl?"

"I was looking for someone," Mira told him.

"Did you find him?"  
Mira shrugged a shoulder. "In a way." She turned and sat down on her stool again. "I need to talk to you about those letters you sent me."

Razer pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "What letters?"

"Oh, don't you play dumb with me. You know about the letters that you've been sending me for the last two years." Mira snapped a pretzel in half. "The letters about your problems with having to retire, coming out of retiring to deal with a loser named Jak, and the woes of dealing with Mizo."

"Ah yes, I remember them now." Razer smirked and blew smoke in her direction just as she was about to put a pretzel in her mouth. "You never bothered to answer any of those letters."

With an irritated sigh Mira waved away the smoke and tossed the pretzel aside. "What did you expect? I didn't think you'd find anything about _my _life important. I could have said 'Dear Razer, today I saw you lost to Jak. What the hell is wrong with you?' or 'Today, I cut my hand changing a muffler on a car. Then I realized I was PMSing. Does the world hate me or what?' Does any of that sound remotely interesting to you?"

The champion shook his head and stole a few pretzels. "The fact is you didn't even bother writing down a single sentence. Yet here you are, acting like we can be friends."

Mira shrugged a shoulder. "Sanders, a Wasteland Brew if you don't mind. And…" She glanced at Razer. "What did you order last time I was here?"

"How easy people forget these days…" Razer commented with a look up at the ceiling.

"Get him a scotch and put it on my bill," Mira told Sanders. "Just in case the poor old boy came shortchanged again today."

Sanders smiled and bustled off to get their drinks. Mira tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked at Razer.

"Why aren't you sitting down?" she asked, munching on a pretzel again. "Or did you forget how to?"

Razer's eyes narrowed. "You're in my seat, Krew."

"I don't see your name on it," Mira commented, looking down at the stool. "And I'm not getting up for you because every stool at this bar is the same as this one. They're just in other positions."

Razer reached over and tried to push her off the stool. Mira turned and raised her foot up, brushing the toe of her shoe against his groin.

"Don't even think about it mister," she said with a devilish grin. "I'm not a lady that allows herself to be manhandled easily. So, if you want to keep your sexy voice at the same level, I suggest you take a seat and let me keep mine."

The champion looked slightly amused as he took a seat on the stool next to hers. _Someone has certainly gotten feisty over the years…_

Mira smiled at him and let her foot drop back to its normal level. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"  
Razer did not favor her with an answer. Sanders came back over and passed out their drinks.

"You might as well give him the whole bottle," Mira commented, eyeing the small glass that the scotch was in. "He might need it in a little bit." Without a word to Razer, the girl took her drink and took a swig. "Did you do something to your brew Sanders?"

Sanders smirked. "Why do you ask?"

"Because…this has gotten stronger," Mira admitted, coughing. "Not that I can't handle it…"

Sanders smiled and walked off to clean some mugs and tend to the other customers. Mira's throat burned and she could feel her eyes starting to water.

"Oh look, my mere presence has reduced you to tears," Razer commented with a smirk.

"You wish." Mira straightened in her seat and plucked his cigarette from his lips, crushing it out in an ashtray. "I'm not one of your overly excited fan girls who cry when you turn your pretty blue gaze on them. Oh no, I one of those rare girls that act the same around everyone, no matter how hot or famous the person may be."

Razer blew a stream of smoke in her face. "That was my last cigarette."

Mira waved the smoke away again and smiled. "So? Now you can't breathe a cloud of death in my face to hide behind." She sighed as she looked at the drinks and empty pretzel basket. "I think I can pay and leave now."

"You couldn't afford to pay for this scotch." Razer reached into his coat pocket to get at his money.

The black haired girl reached into her purse before he could grasp any orbs and pulled out a handful of her own, placing them on the counter. With a smile, she closed the bag and stood up.

"That should cover everything," she said with a smirk. "Thanks for the grub Sanders."

Sanders waved to show that he heard. Razer watched Mira wave at Jak and Daxter and head towards the front of the bar. She threw a smirk back in his direction and disappeared through the wood doors. With a deadly glare in Jak's direction, Razer was on his feet and out the doors after the black haired Krew.

When he burst through the doors of the bar, he was temporarily blinded by the sunlight. The instant he regained his vision, he found that he couldn't see the girl walking away in any direction. She had simply vanished.

"Looking for someone?" her voice came from his left.

Razer turned to see her sitting on the hood of his Havoc with a small smile on her face. He strode over to her and glared up into her eyes.

"You actually thought you could get away from me after all of that, didn't you?" he asked.

Mira shook her head. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere actually. You see, I'm making up everything as I get to it. After all, I have about two hours of time to kill before the blue haired brat from Hell shows up and demands my full attention."

Razer placed a hand on the hood of his car, on either side of her. "What makes you think that she won't show up sooner to punish the naughty little girl that you are?"

Mira smirked down at him. "I have no doubt that she might come here sometime sooner, but to punish me? I'd like to see her try to punish me for having a little fun after all those years I've spent at that boarding school with those strict crones we had for teachers."

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it before she could be swept into memory lane, full of bad times that overshadowed most of the good times.

"What she does to me can't be all that bad. She'll probably just freeze my allowance or something that she _thinks _will hurt me."

Razer chuckled. "Rayn will do much worse to you than that. She has a horde of men working for her and they are awfully lonely. A pretty face like yours would make them happy for awhile if she decided to hand you over to them."

Mira paled. "I-I hadn't thought about that..." She put a hand to her throat, feeling her heart race through it. "She'd do it, you know? She hates that me that much because of that night I spent with you and the kiss we shared at the ferry docks…Maybe I made the wrong choice coming here, disobeying her orders." She looked at him. "Razer, maybe you made the wrong choice when you should have taken her on the joyride two years ago."

"No. I believe I chose the right Krew," Razer commented, not even amused that he had the girl doubting herself now that he could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Something was completely wrong about those things in her eyes.

"It would have saved you a lot of trouble," Mira muttered, letting her hand drop back onto her lap.

"Don't you remember what I said about trouble?"

Mira nodded. "It makes life more entertaining…and dangerous."

"Yes, it does." Razer smirked. "But you don't have to worry about that. Rayn couldn't handle killing her friends, so she wouldn't kill you. She'll just continue to make me her bitch."

Mira frowned. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not. It's quite amusing to see what your cousin will do next."

"Razer, are you sure you wouldn't change anything in the past about choosing me over Rayn? To keep you out of trouble and from being her…bitch?"

"No." He glanced at her. "Everyone needs a healthy dose of trouble in their lives. It keeps them sane. And if keeping you around keeps the trouble coming, I won't complain."

Mira looked away from him. "I'd thought that you would be eager to get rid of me. I mean, I haven't talked to you for two years and I didn't even come back to Kras City when school was out for the summer to even attempt to see you. I'd thought you'd move onto someone else and put me in your past…And with all of this drama coming from Rayn, you should be more eager to have me gone, but…"

Razer couldn't stand to listen to her nervous babbling and did the one thing that came to mind that he knew would shut her up. He grabbed her and kissed her. Mira was unresponsive for a moment, unsure of what to do, but she caught on fast and kissed him back just as passionately as he was kissing her. She could feel Razer smirk into the kiss before he pulled away several moments later, leaving her breathless.

"That's how it should have been done two years ago, despite how pressed for time I was," Razer commented with a smirk.

Mira smiled slightly, her cheeks burning with color. "My friends would have fainted and Rayn would have murdered me in a jealous rage if it had been like that."

Razer chuckled. "I do have that affect on women."

Mira nodded in agreement. "You do."

"Now Ms. Krew, you're going to come with me and I will allow you to participate in something that would make a whole population of women very jealous," Razer said, stepping back to allow her to slide down. "Not to mention, very upset and heartbroken."

"I'm probably going to end up dead by Rayn if I do this, right?" Mira asked as Razer pushed her towards the passenger side of his Havoc.

"If you want to chicken out and pass, I completely understand," Razer said, holding the door open. "I just thought –."

"Watch who you call a 'chicken'," Mira snapped, leaning close to him. "I'll make you scream your head off before tonight is over with, whether it is from insanity or something almost as fun. You mark my words."

The dark haired champion smirked as she climbed in the Havoc. "That's good to hear. Now let's see if you can deliver."

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira felt her heart beat rapidly in her throat as she lay there, breathing heavily. Every inch of her was on fire and she loved it. She hadn't known what to expect when Razer had taken her to his mansion a few hours ago, but now she was like _wow_. A champion combat racer wanted her and he had just proved it for over two hours. She was in heaven or she was in a really good dream that she never wanted to wake up from.

Razer chuckled as he traced as the contours of her arm with a finger. "You're speechless now. That's a first."

Mira giggled. "I – I don't know how to put words together to describe how I feel…"

"Alive?" Razer offered.

Mira thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. "I feel alive and loved."

"Then I have done my job."

Razer looked annoyed when someone banged on his door. "What do you want?" he demanded in a loud voice.

The door opened and Mira quickly pulled the satin sheets up to her chin when Shiv entered the room with Edje and Cutter behind him. The latter two smirked when they saw her in their boss' bed, but didn't make any comment.

"Boss, we have a problem," Shiv announced.

"What is it?" Razer demanded, climbing out of the bed and pulling his black pants on. Mira politely looked away from him.

"It's Krew. She's outside with dozens of armed men. I think she's looking for a fight."

Mira's eyes widened and she wrapped the sheet around herself before climbing out of bed and wandering over to the window. She peeked through the heavy curtains and saw her cousin standing near the front gate in the light of her combat car's headlights. Dozens of armed men stood around her. Fear clawed at her insides and Mira shivered from an inner cold.

_This is my fault…_Mira told herself, glancing over at Razer when he joined her near the window. _He knows it. His men know it. Everyone knows it. _

_She's going to kill everyone in this mansion because I'm the one that stole Razer's heart. But I won't let her…I can't let her. I have to end this now. By myself._

Mira turned away from the window and felt around the dark room for her clothing. The trio of men was gone, so she wasn't afraid to let the sheet she had wrapped around her fall to floor.

"What are you doing?" Razer asked, watching her slip her underwear and bra back on.

"I'm getting dressed so I can go out there and talk to my cousin like civilized people," Mira told him, shimmying into her skirt. "And don't think about stopping me. I've already made up my mind that this is the only way to keep her from opening fire on your ass."

She scooped her shirt off the floor and slipped it on, but did not button it up. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the window.

"I should have known that she'd act this way. She wanted you and still does. Maybe you chose the wrong cousin to love Razer."

"You're wrong in thinking that," Razer said, sticking a cigarette in between his lips and lighting it.

Mira sighed. She was too tired to argue with him. All the happiness she had felt was gone now and all she could think about was convincing her cousin to leave her the hell alone. It was about time that the old girl got over her jealousy. She turned to leave the room.

"This is a big person's game Mira," Razer said, slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke. "It's a war and I don't think you're prepared to deal with the unpleasant aspects of it. Of course, I could be wrong…"

"My uncle wouldn't have entrusted me with so much power if he didn't believe that I could do him proud," Mira whispered, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"Power?" Razer's eyebrow quirked up. "You have no power in this city."

Mira chuckled. "Now you're wrong in thinking that Razer, but that's because I've been gone for two years. After I'm done with Rayn, I'll get you caught up to speed."

Razer's eyes narrowed as he watched her pull open the door to his bedroom. She threw a smirk in his direction and disappeared from view.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira saw her cousin leaning against the hood of her vehicle with her legs crossed at the ankles. The blue haired woman had a large gun resting across her lap, the barrel of which she was stroking fondly. Rayn's amber eyes snapped up and held Mira's moss green one's captive, hatred burning in them. Mira stopped a few feet away from the older woman, aware that dozens of guns were aimed at her and could be fired at her at any moment.

"I knew you'd be here," Rayn hissed, pushing herself away from her vehicle. "Even after everything I've done for you, I knew you couldn't stay away from the man that I wanted!"

"You wanted him only after I said that he was my favorite racer. Before then, you hated him just as much as your father did." Mira cocked her head to one side. "And it's not my fault that Razer hasn't accepted your advances. Maybe you shouldn't have been such a spoiled brat and obedient to your daddy. Maybe then you would have been the one that got the joyride two years ago. You could have been the one that he fell in love with and we wouldn't be having this fight."

"It's not my fault that my father wanted me to be the one to rule over the city! I had to learn everything and you were given so many freedoms because you're not his daughter!"

"I had to learn everything that you did," Mira reminded her. "I had no free time because of that. Uncle wanted to be sure that someone could keep the company from collapsing in the event that you weren't strong enough to handle it all."

"Well, it came so easy to you! You had time to go out with boys and you were allowed to get away with sneaking off with Razer. It was supposed to be _me _that got him! I deserve him!" She took a step towards Mira. "I am his boss now and he should do whatever I want him to! I told him to stay away from you! I knew he was still in contact with you, still infatuated with you, but I thought with a certain brand of persuasion the bloke would fall for me. And you ruined it all!!"

Mira held her hands up in surrender. "You said that you wanted me back here after I graduated and you seemed happy to hear that I was coming back to Kras City to help you."

"I was _acting_, you silly girl. I have always been such a good actress." Rayn sneered. "I have always _hated _you. I have always wanted you _dead_ and now, I'm finally getting what I want."

Mira eyed the gun in her cousin's hands warily as she heard footsteps behind her. She allowed her gaze to flit away from the shiny gun for a brief moment when another gun entered her line of vision. Razer stood there with a gun aimed at Rayn.

"Rayn, be a good girl and lower your gun," Razer ordered. "I know you wouldn't kill your own cousin if you couldn't even stomach killing your own friends."

Rayn's eyes narrowed. "I'm not lowering my gun Razer. You will."

"Razer, don't listen to her," Mira whispered.

Razer's fingers tightened on the gun. "I wasn't planning on it."

"He has to listen to me," Rayn said with a confident smirk. "He works for me. The whole city works for me."

"And that's where you're wrong, dear cousin," Mira announced, lowering her hands. "Boys, lower your guns."

Half of the men lowered their guns and ignored the looks from the rest of the men. Rayn looked surprised and tried to order them to aim their guns back at Mira and Razer. They wouldn't listen.

"Traitors all of you!" Rayn cried.

"Actually, they're doing exactly what Uncle ordered them to do," Mira declared, crossing her arms. "You see, Krew knew that you couldn't handle the business all by yourself so he left orders with his business associates to hand half of the company over to me in the event of his death. Half of the power you have over the city belongs to me."

"I – I don't believe you!" Rayn snapped. "Father said nothing of this in his will!"

"That's because he came to the school shortly after you graduated and signed away half of the company to me in secret, but I had to wait until I graduated to claim it." She smiled slightly. "I was hoping to wait awhile longer to claim it, thinking that you would have grown up since I last saw you, but you haven't."

"Be that as it may, you have no power over Razer and his gang!" Rayn said, glaring at the said ebony haired man. "They work for me!"

"Actually I do." Mira glanced over at Razer. "Uncle told me that Mizo's dream team would be mine to control when he ended the feud between the two crime families. Razer and his men work for me, Rayn. So, do me a favor and stop bossing Razer around."

Rayn looked horrified. "Father betrayed me…You've all betrayed me…"

Mira shook her head and approached her cousin. "Rayn, I would be content to let you continue to run the city as you have for the past few months now with only my occasional assistance. You can run it as you see fit, but should you come after me or Razer again, I will have my men take you out and then I'll take complete control by myself. Well, mostly myself. I plan on giving some power to someone else…"

Rayn frowned and lowered her gun. "Why would you do this to me, Mira? I thought you were the good one…"

"Rayn, I'm being nice to you and will continue to be nice to you because you're my cousin. I just want to be able to put this behind me and to move on with my life. I hope you can do the same."

Rayn nodded her head once. "Very well…Boys let's go, but mark my words…this isn't over."

Mira watched Rayn leave with her men. Those that worked for her looked to Mira for orders. She told them to go home and then report for work tomorrow for Rayn until she called upon them again. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Razer when she heard him lower his gun.

"When were you going to tell me that you're my boss, Krew?" Razer asked and Mira noticed that he didn't sound pissed.

"Around the same time that I was going to tell you that I don't care what you do," Mira admitted, turning to face him. "I don't want to make you follow my orders. I don't even want to give you orders. You're older than me and smarter when it comes to gangs. It doesn't seem right for me to try to rule you." She sighed. "But in order to keep you safe from Rayn…you may have to act like you listen to me when she's around. I don't want her to make you her bitch again."

Razer smirked. "You might be the only boss that I can agree with."

Mira shrugged and started buttoning her shirt up. "I think I should go home now." She heard Razer chuckle. "What?"

"Do you think that two crime lords can live peacefully in one mansion? Rayn will try to kill you when you least expect it. You'd be lucky to survive a week with her."

"So, I can't live with her…"

"She's probably already thrown all your stuff out on the lawn."

Mira sighed. "Then I'll just have to find a hotel to stay in until tomorrow. Then I can buy myself a cozy little house and –"

Razer grabbed her arm and pulled her to him roughly. "Have you forgotten that you are mine? I can't just let you go after all the trouble you've caused me."

Mira frowned and put a hand on his chest, trying to push him away but failing. "Is that an invite to stay?"

Razer smirked. "You have no choice in the matter."

"Your boys won't be happy to have me around for however long it is that you plan to keep me here."

"They will grow used to it. You are going to be kept here forever or for as long as you live. Which ever comes last."

Mira smiled into the kiss that Razer placed on her lips. _I could get used to this whole hostage thing…_

Razer pulled away from her when heavy footsteps alerted them to his gang's arrival. "You're late," he said in a hard voice.

"Sorry boss, but the weapon's closet door was jammed…" Shiv muttered, not quite meeting his boss' eye.

"Shiv, don't blame a simple door for your incompetence!" Razer snapped, glaring at the orange haired man. "There were weapons in the garage that you could have easily gotten to. But instead, you fight with a door while a woman goes out and confronts a crime lord and her armed minions alone and unarmed. You shouldn't even be able to share the same air she breathes."

Shiv didn't flinch and Razer didn't expect him to. He turned his gaze upon Mira once more when she placed a soft hand on his arm.

"Please go easy on them," she whispered. "At least they weren't stupid enough to walk out in front of dozens of loaded guns without some form of protection like I was..."

Razer's eyes softened as he looked at her. "They acted like cowards and I will not let this go unnoticed or unpunished. But I will let them keep their lives and jobs because now that I have to protect you, I'll need all the help I can get. Even if it comes from cowards."

Cutter looked interested now. "We have to protect her?"

"Gentlemen, let me introduce you to my real boss, Mira Krew," Razer said with a smirk as he removed his cigarette from between his lips.

The three men stared at the two of them in shock. Mira smiled at their confused expressions, though she wondered what Cutter's facial expression was behind that wooden mask. She could tell that they were thinking about killing her, but would wait to see if Razer wanted them to.

"Go fetch her things from Krew's mansion," Razer commanded his men. "And put them outside my room until morning. She's going to be around for a long time…" He turned and started walking up the drive, keeping an arm around Mira's waist. "Maybe she can make better men out of you lot."

Mira laughed. "I doubt I'll do anything but make them worse."

"Great changes can happen to a man when there's a good woman around," Razer stated. "So I expect you to make my men into mercenaries."

Mira laid her head gently against his shoulder. "I'll see what I can do."

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**A/N: It's a kind of crappy ending, I know, but with my fried brain cells, there's not much I can do. And I know my grammar has issues, but I'm still working on bettering it. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter enough to review. I worked hard on this for almost a day and a half on it (typing, reading, retyping, and reading again), to give you this finished product. So, I hope your critique isn't so bad. Thanks. ~Scarlet **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I forgot to thank one person in the other two chapters for her idea that I borrowed. So, I'm going to thank her right now for the wonderful creation of Wasteland Brew that has played such a nice role in getting Mira and Razer together. Thanks a bunch **_**RenjiLuvah**_** for the brew.**

**And thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter two. You guys rock!**

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**A Year Later…**

Mira made a small tutting sound as she watched the big screen displaying the race going on at the moment. The brilliant explosion lit up her eyes, but did not bring a smile to her face as it would have a few years ago.

_That was too close_, Mira thought, biting her lip as she sat in the same box she had sat in with her uncle and cousin ages ago. _Even for Razer. What does he think he's doing?_

She cheered when Jak blazed past one of the rookies, taking them out with a missile. After being in Kras City for so long, she had decided to give the old boy a chance and he turned out to be brighter than she expected. He had his problems and she had hers and somehow they had found that talking to each other helped. She'd come to find him as a sort of friend. Even Daxter was starting to seem like a friend to her, if only he'd stop pointing out the fact that she looked so much like her cousin.

Mira sighed and brushed back a strand of her raven colored hair. Her cousin was really starting to concern her. She couldn't go anywhere without worrying about whether or not Rayn would have someone attempt to kill her. A simple drink prepared in front of her eyes had to be tested for poison. She sometimes had to go in the men's room with a chaperone because Razer didn't trust that Rayn would be above killing her in the ladies' room. Her life was completely changed just because she had control over half the family business and Razer.

_And I didn't ask for any of this_, Mira reminded herself, glancing over her shoulder at her two silent guards. _Especially these oafs. Honestly, couldn't Razer find someone with intelligence? _

She knew she shouldn't be complaining. Razer was doing his best to protect her. He didn't have to. He could just as easily take her out so that he would be in charge of her part of the business, but he was keeping her safe. He was showing her love everyday and when he wasn't out conducting business or racing, he was with her enjoying the simple pleasures of the dangerous city. But half the time she wondered if all he enjoyed was having her on his arm for the cameras and his enemies to see and her in his bed, warming it almost every night. She was like a prime example of a trophy girl.

"I can't watch this anymore," Mira muttered, getting to her feet when Razer's Havoc was pressed against a wall by one of the drivers.

The guards, who had been watching the race, jumped and looked at Mira as she walked past. "Krew, you know you can't go without us."

"Then you can come along if you must," Mira said, glancing over her shoulder at them. "I really don't care if you don't. I can take care of myself."

The guards rolled their eyes and followed her out of the box. Mira suppressed the urge to scream at them. They knew she could handle guns and knives as well as they could, but they still had that doubt that she couldn't handle herself in a real combat situation. Practice situations where her life wasn't really on the line yes, real life situations where things could turn seriously ugly really fast no.

_I'll show you, _Mira thought bitterly as she led them out onto the street. _I'll show every single one of you that I can handle myself for one day. It can't be that hard._

While one guard checked her new vehicle, Mira watched the other guard scan the street for possible assassins. She slowly pulled a gun from her purse and brought the butt of it down on the man's head with as much force as she could. He groaned and fell to the ground at her feet.

"That was easier than I expected," Mira murmured, stepping over him and merging with the crowd before the other guard looked away from her car. "Now, what am I going to do now that I have all this free time?"

Mira smiled to herself. She could do anything she wanted now that she was alone. She could enjoy an hour or two of solitude before Razer discovered that she was missing. There were so many places she wanted to go that he wouldn't have approved of without him accompanying her and now, she was free.

"Razer, I love you and all, but right now I need some alone time," Mira muttered, shouldering her purse and disappearing into the crowd of civilians.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer smirked when he crossed the finish line a full thirty seconds before Jak did. Ever since Mira had come back to Kras City, he had gotten his edge back. And he was glad to have it back. It made him feel like a true champion again.

When he got to pit lane, he stepped out of his Havoc and looked towards the wall of civilians. The crowd was roaring at his victory and it was music to his ears. He expected to see Mira's dark haired head in the V.I.P box, but he couldn't see her.

"Sir, we've got a problem," Shiv said, coming over from where his car was.

"Not now," Razer muttered, sticking a cigarette in between his lips and lighting it. "I need to know where Mira is."

"That's the problem boss," Shiv admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "No one can find her."

Razer's eyes narrowed. "What about those two guards I hired?"

"One claims to have been knocked out by her and the other claims to have chased her until he lost her in a crowd of civilians," Shiv stated.

Razer's eyes flitted in the direction of the orange haired man as he rapped his black gloved fingers on the hood of his Havoc. "Get the other two. We're leaving."

"But what about the next race?" Shiv asked.

"What do you think they have rookies for?" Razer glared at the man. "These races are not worth my time. Nor are they even worth yours. Now get the other two and go. We have to find her before she gets herself killed."

"Who's getting herself killed?" an annoying voice asked.

Razer suppressed the urge to throw a knife at the owner of the voice. It was that irritating loudmouth storyteller from the Bloody Hook on the shoulder of the great Jak. Razer personally detested both of them – one for stealing his title as champion, the other for merely opening his mouth – and wasn't planning on changing that. How Mira could go from hating the two strangers to enjoying their company was a mystery he couldn't solve. When she was talking with the two of them and the rest of the grease monkeys that had come with them, Razer left her supervision to his cronies. He could tell that his men didn't like that and that Mira expected better of him, but he wasn't about to kneel before a new boss when she promised him freedom under her control.

"That's none of your concern," Razer said, glancing at the furry Ottsel.

"Mira ran away again, didn't she?" Jak asked with a small smirk.

If Razer were any other man, he was sure that he would have enjoyed slapping that smirk from Jak's face. He simply turned and walked back over to the driver's side of his  
Havoc and felt like the small object in his pocket grew far heavier than he remembered.

"She did, didn't she?" Daxter started laughing. "Can't keep the poor girl interested, can you Razer?"

Razer's eyes narrowed at the Ottsel. "I doubt you could hold her interest for longer than a minute."

"Hey!"

"Razer, you know that Rayn's out to get Mira. You shouldn't have let her run off like that," Jak commented.

Now the boy was chastising him? Who did he think he was? Did he not know who he was talking to?

"What I shouldn't have done, Jak, was let you fill her head with childish ideas when she needs to keep her head," Razer corrected, flicking his cigarette away. "She has a future and she doesn't need anyone beneath her to drag her down into the dust."

Jak watched Razer slam the door to the Havoc closed and then moved aside as the red vehicle sped past. Seconds later, three other vehicles tore past, following Razer's car.

"Where are they all going?" Daxter asked.

"To find Mira," Jak reminded his best friend as he headed for his own car.

"And where are you going?"

"We both know where Mira is and Razer won't find her for hours if we don't do something."

"And that's a problem?" Daxter asked, jumping into the passenger seat.

"People could get hurt."

"Oh."

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira laughed as she flipped Torn onto his back and placed the heel of her boot a half an inch away from his throat, waiting for him to give up. Ashelin and Sig were watching her and oddly, they weren't cheering for their best friend. They were cheering for her as they had been for the past fifteen minutes.

Mira couldn't remember what had made her want to fight the rough voiced man. She was sure that it had something to do with him doubting her ability to take down anyone with his skill. If it had been that, then she felt that it was a just cause for her to start pounding on the older man to make him see that he wasn't all that. If it wasn't, it was still good to prove to him that he wasn't so mighty.

"All right, I give. I give," Torn said, holding his hands palms up in surrender. "Now get off me."

Mira smiled and put her foot back on the floor. "Was that so hard Torn?"

Instead of giving a clear answer, Torn grumbled something under his breath and flipped to his feet. With a mean glance at her and the other two, he walked out of the room to sulk by himself.

"Oh the poor boy," Mira commented, pulling out her ponytail and letting her hair fall about her shoulders. "I think I bruised his ego."

"There's a lot to bruise there, so he'll live," Ashelin said, watching Mira like a cat would watch a mouse before it pounced. "But if you keep beating him, you might not."

Mira shrugged her shoulders and let out a little shriek when Ashelin pounced on her. Ashelin was all fists and feet and Mira could hardly find an opening to fight back. But Ashelin's blows were softer than they would have been if she was actually meaning to pound someone into oblivion, so Mira knew she wouldn't be hurt _too_ badly.

"Awesome! Chick fight!" Daxter's voice rang out above the laughing of Sig and the fighting sounds of the two girls. "I bet five Orbs on…let me see…Ashelin."

Mira looked up when she had Ashelin pinned temporarily underneath her and saw Jak and Daxter watching her. She could tell by the look on Jak's face that he knew she wasn't supposed to be here right there.

_Oh great, he's going to lecture me again…_Mira thought with a frown as Ashelin broke free and attacked her again. _I thought I got away from that when Uncle died, but no! Razer lectures me. My stupid guards lecture me. My friends lecture me. My enemies lecture me. Whose next? Is my car going to lecture me?_

Ashelin straddled Mira and put a hand on her throat, squeezing firmly. "I win."

"I know. But that doesn't do anything for your boyfriend's ego," Mira pointed out in a whisper.

Ashelin smiled and jumped off of Mira and walked away, smiling at Jak as she passed him on the way out. Mira flipped to her feet and dusted off the seat of her black pants before looking at Jak again.

"Let me guess," she began slowly. "You're here to tell me that Razer has discovered I'm missing and that he's out in the city looking for me like an insane person. Right?"

"Mira, this is the third time you've run away this month," Jak pointed out.

"Because I can't stand being cooped up in the house or that stupid little box in the stands, surrounded by people who really don't care what happens to me as long as they get paid. Jak, it's suffocating!" Then she frowned. "I feel like I've said this to you before…"

"You have," Daxter pointed out, jumping from Jak's shoulder. "But Jak just doesn't listen to people anymore these days."

Jak rolled his eyes and walked over to the bar that Mira was leaning against. "Mira, Razer's only doing this because he wants to protect you. He may not be thinking about how you feel about all this, but he's doing his best."

Mira sighed. "It's hard to believe that none of you like him. You're always saying how much he wants to protect me, how much he loves me –"

"Even if he doesn't act like it," Sig finished for her. "What you need is some protection, girl. Some serious fire power like a Peace Maker or something."

"I'm very happy with my Coil Gun, thank you."

"But a Peace Maker would make everyone think twice about bothering you," Sig insisted.

"That gun is bigger than me Sig. I couldn't even lift it if I tried."

Mira watched Sig try to think of another weapon she could use. She liked him almost more than she liked Jak because he was always trying to help her protect herself against others without putting anymore guards on her. He actually listened to her most of the time and coached her on how to handle her weapons to achieve the maximum results. Without him, she knew she wouldn't be alive that day.

"Mira, I have to take you to the Bloody Hook," Jak said, breaking into her train of thought.

"What?" Mira was startled by the idea. "Why?"

"Razer will probably go there and I want him to find you there, safe and sound, so no one has to get hurt. You can talk to him about your problems later."

Mira bit her bottom lip. "I don't know what to tell him."

Jak and Sig exchanged looks.

"You haven't told him about it yet?" Sig asked.

"No. I haven't." Mira admitted, nervously rubbing her arm. "I don't know how to approach the topic. I've never had to do this kind of thing before."

"You've got to tell him Mira."

"But Jak…" Mira flinched mentally when she realized she was whining. "He'll become even more obsessed with my protection if I tell him! I'll never see the sun again! I can't tell him!"

"It's going to be pretty obvious sooner or later," Daxter pointed out, putting a hand on his stomach when it grumbled. "You'll look kinda…fat, y' know."

Mira sent him a withering look. "Shut it Dax!"

"Mira, you're going to have to talk to him like civilized adults. Maybe you can work something out that won't be so 'suffocating'. You just have to give it a shot," Jak stated. "Now, c'mon. Let's go to the Bloody Hook and get this over with."

Mira frowned and jumped when something heavy was placed around her shoulders. It was just Sig's arm giving her a one armed hug though.

"See ya later, cherry," he said.

Mira nodded and walked out after Jak and Daxter, silently saying goodbye to the sun.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer brought a cigarette to his lips as he walked into the Bloody Hook. His boys had already checked the place earlier, but he had a feeling that Mira had counted on that. It wouldn't have been too hard for her to wait outside until after they searched the place and then sneak into the dingy bar, all the while thinking that she'd never get caught until she wanted to be caught. Well, he was just too smart for her.

Sanders was standing behind the bar and gave a slight nod to acknowledge Razer's presence. Razer walked over to the bar and waited for the old bartender to walk over to him.

"What can I help you with Razer?" Sanders asked with a small smile. "Some brandy? Maybe a little scotch?"

"No." A drink would be good right then, but he didn't have time for that. "Is she here?"

Sanders nodded and pointed at a booth across the room, tucked in the corner. "That racer Jak brought her here and then left."

Razer frowned at the news and followed the man's finger in the direction of the booth. He saw Mira's head was bowed like a person who knew they were guilty of something they were ashamed of.

"Thank you Sanders." Razer muttered, walking over to the booth.

"Anytime," was the reply of the old bartender before he went back to work.

Mira did not look up from her hands when he slid into the seat opposite of her. Razer could see the frown pulling at her lips and felt that it was correctly placed there. She had given him a lot of hell in the past two hours and he was going to have to think of a creative punishment for her.

"You're mad," Mira mumbled when he didn't say anything for a moment. "At my actions which you consider stupid and reckless."

Razer simply blew out a ring of smoke, watching the small cloud of smoke hover over Mira's head. A small scratching sound made his eyes flit down to the scarred wooden table between them and land on Mira's fingernails which were scratching at the wood as she flexed her fingers. If she wasn't careful, she would end up bleeding.

"You really don't have any right to be mad though," Mira said softly. "You know I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself when I have to. You know I don't like having guards around me all the time, telling me where I can and can't go. I thought I had escaped that life when I started dating you. Perhaps I was wrong…"

"I could leave you completely vulnerable to attack at anytime, Mira," Razer pointed out. "There'd be a chance that you'd end up dead and then Rayn would become the full crime lord of Kras City, but if you're willing to chance it…"

Mira's green eyes snapped up to meet his dark blue ones. Anger burned there and Razer was amused by it. That girl had a temper to rival Rayn's.

"You'd never let me try to be on my own. Not even for a minute," Mira hissed. "What good is the training you put me through if I don't get a chance to use what you've taught me?"

Razer watched Mira move her head a fraction of an inch and a moment later a knife whizzed past his head. It quivered as it embedded itself in the wood next to Mira's head. She didn't even flinch.

"What I taught you is only to be used if the guards I placed around you or I am busy fighting someone. You shouldn't have to fight if you don't have to."

Mira rolled her eyes and pulled the knife out of the wood next to her head. She slammed the blade into the table, just a few centimeters from Razer's right hand.

"Because I'm a lady, right?" She laughed dryly. "I am far from a lady."

"Well, that's news to me." Razer said, sliding a hand under the table and squeezing her knee. If he stretched the hand farther out, he could touch her thigh and he felt her stiffen at his touch. "You looked like a lady when you were in my bed. And in the garage and the shower…"

Color flushed Mira's cheeks and she knocked his hand aside. "Shut up Razer!"

Razer smirked. She was a lot of fun to play with when she was trying to be mad at him. She became almost irresistible…but no, there was time for that later.

"As it stands, you still need to be punished for all the times you ran away from your guards," Razer pointed out. "You've managed to delay the punishment so far by distracting me, but no more. I've decided your punishment."  
Mira's eyes widened in horror when he smirked. "Oh no. Not there! Anywhere but there!"

"Yes there." Razer slid out of the booth and leaned close to her. "And you will behave like a lady, my dear."

Mira glared at him and got to her feet, straightening her shirt. "I have no choice, do I?"

Razer smiled and slid an arm around her waist. "None whatsoever. Now take your punishment like a good girl."

Mira growled threateningly and tried dragging her feet, but Razer kept a firm arm around her and dragged her to the door. He had a feeling that she had mouthed to Sanders for help and was glad that the old bartender knew better than to stop him. Carefully, he maneuvered Mira out the door and out onto the street where his Havoc waited.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira sat silently at the table that was covered in white cloth and shining silver utensils with her arms crossed. She was chewing on her tongue, thinking of what she could say that would get her out of this place as quickly as possible. She was definitely not in the mood for coffee and delicate little pastries. She knew it and she knew that Razer knew it. But this was her punishment and she was going to suffer through it for as long as Razer kept her here.

"Don't you like your coffee?" Razer asked and Mira could hear the smugness in his voice.

"The coffee is just fine," Mira muttered, having not taken a sip of it yet. "Now, I have a question for you."

"Do you?"

Mira nodded and started turning the cup of coffee around in her hands. "What have you been hiding from me for the past week? And don't you lie to me and say that you're hiding nothing. I know you are because you took Mara away one day and were gone until late at night. What are you hiding?"

Mara was Mira's best friend from school. She was two years older, but looked exactly the same as Mira so people regularly confused her as Mira's older sister. And she harbored the same hate for Rayn as Razer and didn't trust him or Jak. But she'd been a good friend to Mira for as long as they knew each other.

"Why don't you tell me what you're hiding first?" Razer suggested, taking a bite of one of the pastries on the dish in the middle of the table. "There's a rule I follow and it is: _ladies first_."

Mira looked confused. "What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything. You see unlike you, I tell the person I love everything."

"Not everything. There is something that you and your friends know and I don't. You know I do not like to be kept in the dark Mira. So it would be wise for you to tell me before blondes and vermin get hurt."

Mira's lips tightened into a thin line. She _hated _it when he threatened to hurt her friends. If she didn't tell him what he wanted, he'd escalate to threatening to kill them and if she didn't tell him then, he'd check his guns and start for the door. And she didn't want her friends to get hurt over something stupid like what she was hiding.

Calming herself down, Mira brought her cup of coffee to her lips. "Hmm…"

"What?"

"I was just wondering if you'd want someone to carry on your legacy," Mira muttered, not meeting his gaze directly as she fought to keep her face expressionless.

Razer's eyebrow quirked up. "What are you talking about? No one can carry on my legacy."

Mira shrugged her shoulders slightly. "If they were a copy of you, they could. If they had your last name, they could."

Razer leaned forward and placed a hand over her cup before she could bring it to her lips again. "Mira, what are you implying?"

Mira pushed his hand away. "What do you think? You're going to be a father," she said calmly, taking another sip of her coffee. "Mm…this is good."

Mira wanted to laugh when she saw the stunned look on Razer's face. She could almost see the wheels in his head turning as he tried to process what she had just said. He closed his mouth to signal that he had just processed it.

"You're pregnant." It was a statement, not a question.

"I believe I just said that." A smile wanted to turn up the corners of her lips, but Mira controlled her expression. "But not exactly in those words."

"How?"

Mira rolled her eyes and set the cup down. "Do you really need a science lesson? I thought you knew how babies were made, but…You see you need a man and a woman and –"

"I know how babies are made Mira. But how could you get pregnant?" His eyes grew suspicious. "Is it someone else's?"

Mira propped her chin up on her hand. "Razer, I was with you the whole time. You know, what we did so many times was bound to have a consequence or two. This just happens to be the consequence of our actions."

"It's mine then."

"_He _is yours." She smirked at his quirked eyebrow. "I know it's a boy even though I've only been pregnant a couple of months."

A smile spread across Razer's face. It was a small one, but at least it was a smile. "I'm going to be a father."

Mira nodded and let her smile appear. "You're going to be a father. _We're_ going to be _parents_."

If Razer were any other man, he would have jumped up and hugged her as tightly as he could. But he was Razer and was too macho to do that, so he simply took her free hand in his and rubbed the back of it gently with his thumb.

"You should have told me first," he murmured.

"Mara would beg to differ. She says that the best friend should know first and then the father of the child. But she was a big blabber mouth and told Jak and his friends before I got the chance and then the racing season started and I couldn't find time to tell you," Mira admitted, glad that he wasn't mad at her for withholding this important information.

They sat there, looking at one another and not talking. Mira felt too happy for words. Razer simply wouldn't voice his happiness because he was Razer. But both simply knew that they were happy and felt just a little more love for the other.

"Oh, am I interrupting something? So sorry," said the only person who could ruin their happiness in the café they were sitting in.

"Rayn, go away," Mira muttered wearily, sliding her hand out of Razer's grip as he pulled his hand back across the table. "I'm not in the mood to deal with your crap today."

"That's fine. I just came over to tell you that your dream team better not disappoint me this racing season because I refuse to lose money for their crappy racing," Rayn said, eyeing Razer beadily.

Oh yes, she had gotten over him. Well, partially. She still wanted to kill Mira for having control over him, but that was as far as she went these days.

"The people want action and they better get it or I will start hiring professional mercenaries to liven things up out there before the viewers pass out from boredom," Rayn continued. "I want to see more spectacular kills and explosions tomorrow and for the rest of your racing career, Razer. Do you understand?"

Razer smirked and lit another cigarette. "I believe you should discuss it with my boss, Krew."

Rayn's lips tightened and her eyes narrowed. "See that it gets done or you won't make it to the finish line one of these days."

With that, she turned and stormed away, her hips swaying as she threaded her way through the tables. Mira shook her head as she watched her cousin leave, wishing things could have turned out differently for them. She didn't like having her cousin hate her after all these years.

"Razer, can we go home now?" Mira asked, trying to keep the pleading tone out of her voice.

Razer nodded and signaled to a waiter to bring the check.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira felt Razer's hand caressing her arm as she lay with her back to him. She could feel his chest rising and falling against her back, but knew that he was as awake as she was. She had tried to go to sleep after they had come home, but she just couldn't. Something was bothering her.

"You never told me what you were hiding from me," she whispered.

Razer's hand paused for a moment on her arm before it resumed its earlier activity. "I'm not hiding anything that does not need to be hidden from you."

Annoyance flashed in Mira's eyes when she felt his lips touch her shoulder and she rolled onto her back so she could look at him. "Nothing in this relationship needs to be kept hidden from me. I thought that I told you that I wanted you to be completely honest with me when we first started going out."

"I don't recall making any promises."

Mira crossed her arms over the blankets and shrugged his hand off of her. "If you hide one thing from me, what's going to stop you from hiding something more serious from me? For all I know, you could be sleeping with my best friend or that blonde girl who hangs out near pit row during the races."

Razer smirked. "Yes. I have found your friend quite attractive and have slept with her a couple of times. As for that blonde girl, I have found that someone with no brains can make love far better than someone with brains. I'm planning on moving her in tomorrow."

Mira did not laugh at his joke. She didn't find it funny at all. She found it very irritating and was steadily becoming more pissed.

"So, you think this is a joke? I'm pregnant with your first child and you want to joke with me about sleeping with other women instead of telling me what you're really doing behind my back." Mira glared at the ceiling. "That's not a very smart thing to do Razer."

Razer cocked an eyebrow when she did not smile or look at him again. "Mira."

Mira ignored him and rolled back onto her side so that her back was to him.

"Mira."

Still she ignored him.

Razer grabbed her shoulder and forced her onto her back once more. Her hand came flying out of nowhere and connected with his head. He was stunned for a moment.

"I told you that wasn't a smart thing to do," was all Mira said in a flat monotone.

Razer clenched his teeth and sat up, throwing his legs over the side of his bed. He had to force himself to remember that he loved her with his entire being so that he could stop his killer instinct from kicking in. She was no good to him dead. If she died, he knew his life wouldn't be worth living anymore.

"Mira…"

"What do you want Razer?"

She sounded tired, but Razer knew better than to hope for her to fall asleep before she knew what he was hiding from her. Just as she had struggled to find the words to tell him that she was pregnant, he was struggling to find the words to tell her what he had planned on telling her for the past week. It was something her best friend had been bugging him about every time she caught him alone.

Funny thing was it was a lot easier to think about it than it was to put words to what needed to be said.

"Mira…"

Mira sat up, hugging the sheet against her chest. "What Razer? You can tell me anything. You always could."

Razer fished around in his pocket for what he needed. A small box was pulled out of his pants pocket and he stared at it for a moment in the darkness of his room. He had to do it now, even if it wasn't the most romantic of settings or times.

Slowly he turned and he heard a sharp intake of breath on Mira's part as she noticed the box in his hand. Razer met her eyes for a moment before he looked back down at the box. He opened it carefully to reveal the ring nestled inside.

"Razer…" Mira breathed, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Mira, I am not going to flatter you with romantic garbage like other men do in similar situations," Razer declared, looking at her firmly. "I will simply tell you that I want you and ask if you will have me for as long as I live."

Mira slowly lowered her hand, but her eyes remained wide. "Razer, I don't know…"

"The answer isn't hard Mira. It's yes or no. Even Jak's grease whore could answer this kind of question if she was asked it."

Mira didn't particularly like Kiera, so the jab at her intelligence didn't irritate her in the slightest. She nodded. "I'll marry you."

Razer smirked and slid the ring onto her finger before pulling her close to him and crushing her lips with his. Now this was what he called romantic. And it was another thing to make Rayn just a little bit more pissed at her cousin, but he wasn't about to let that blue haired bitch get in between him and Mira. Not while Mira was pregnant with his son and certainly not while he was still living and breathing. She'd just have to wait or die making a foolish effort to remove Mira from the picture.

"Razer, I love you," Mira whispered when his lips made their way down her neck.

"I know."

And Mira knew that that was his way of telling her that he loved her as well. She smiled and let him lower her back onto the pillows, glad that something was finally turning out right for her and him.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**A/N: And so ends another chapter of this freakish story. I've decided that I'm going to make it a four shot with an unhappy ending. What kind of unhappy ending do you think it is? Tell me. I really want to know if you're anywhere close to what's going to happen.**

**Also, tell me what you think about this story because I'd like to know what you think of the characters in it. Let me know who you hate, who you like, who you don't give a damn about. Just tell me something! Thanks! ~ Scarlet**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Now here is the sad conclusion to the story that a few people have found enjoying. I hope you like it and can see past what grammatical errors that may be hidden in here. And please overlook Mira's potty mouth in one portion of this chapter. That is all gentle people. Please continue to read…**

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**Eight Years, 3 Children and 1 Happy Wedding Later…**

Mira had everything she wanted in life. She had good friends, a family, a wonderful husband, and enough money to make sure that her family would never be without…And she was going to lose it all. She just didn't know when.

No, it wasn't her cousin that was going to take away everything from her, though Mira knew that it wasn't from lack of trying. Her cousin had actually eased up on her attacks for the past year or so. For that, Mira was grateful.

What was taking everything away from Mira was simply a disease. She didn't know how she got it; all she knew is that there was no cure for it that the doctors could come up with. Green Eco couldn't do much more than ease her pain for a little while and all that did was make it bearable to sit up and talk without feeling like her nerves were on fire. Money had been spent that they'd never get back and still more money was going to finding a cure for the disease with a name that she couldn't pronounce or spell.

So, Mira grew weaker everyday. Soon she couldn't even make it out of the bedroom. All she'd do was sit in the comfy chair by the fire place and stare into the fire while shivering under three blankets. Razer didn't want to allow her friends to see her, thinking that they would just make her problem worse, but when Mira pleaded with him, he allowed hourly visits to anyone who cared to see her.

Razer himself wouldn't stay near her for very long. Mira didn't want him to. She wanted him to continue to race because she wanted him to go on living as normally as possible. She wanted him to make Razer II smile and be proud of his father. She wanted Razer to teach her twins, Jezebel and Gerard, to ride bikes, to tie their shoes, and the joy that came from racing. She wanted her family to be happy.

Mara was a completely different story. She was always around Mira except when it was night and Razer was in bed with his ailing wife. She swore that Mira was looking better everyday and that Mira would somehow beat the disease and make a full recovery. Mira would smile and wish it would be that simple.

"Mara," Mira whispered one day as she lay in her bed under a pile of blankets.

"Yeah kiddo, I'm here," Mara replied, tossing her black hair over her shoulder and scooting her chair closer to the side of the bed.

"Mara, I think – I think that it's almost time," Mira breathed, her green eyes glinting dully in the dim light.

"Time?" Mara looked confused. "Time for what?"

"I think it's almost time for me to go…"

Mara shook her head quickly and took Mira's hand in hers. Mira's skin felt like ice in the palm of Mara's warm hand. "You can't go. Not yet. We still have time to find…to find a cure for you. Mira, you can't give up now."

"Mara, you know as well as I do that there is no cure. If there was one, we would have found it by now." Mira sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Besides, I'm tired. I'm tired of living with this pain…Everything hurting and aching and not doing what I want it to do…I'm tired of it."

"What about your children? They need a mother in their life. They need _you_."

A weak smile graced Mira's lips. "I've left them messages in my diary for you and Razer to play for them every year. And I want you to step up and be a good godmother to them, Mara. They love you so much already…"

"I can't replace you. No one could. Mira, you can't go…"

Mira squeezed Mara's hand gently. "Don't think that I want to go. I _have_ to go. Soon. And there's still so much that I want to do. So many people I haven't said goodbye to." Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I have enemies that I want to make amends with and I may not get the chance to…I might not get to settle things with Rayn or Kiera…"

Mara reached over and gently stroked Mira's hair. "You'll get to make amends with everyone and you'll be able to say goodbye…I promise you that you will. And you'll live for many more years and have many more children with Razer…You'll get the happily ever after that you've always wanted."

Mira shook her head slowly, but still smiled. She knew her friend was only trying to make her feel better and comfort herself and was thankful for it. But she needed her friend to be able to let go when the time came and move on with her life.

"Mara, when I go I will have lived my life as happily as I ever could have dreamed. I will have loved someone to the best of my ability and will have been loved just as much. I am content to let myself go and you should want this for me. It will be the cure we've been looking for."

Mara shook her head and looked away, but not before Mira saw the tears sliding down her friend's cheeks. "Death is not a cure. It's an ending."

"It's a beginning," Mira corrected softly. "I'll be somewhere where there is no pain. No sadness. There's only peace and happiness forever and ever." She smiled at her best friend. "And I will save a place there for you, Razer, Jak, and the rest of my family for when your time comes."

"We – we can't lose you!" Mara cried. "You're the only person that Razer cares about. With you gone, he could go insane and destroy half the city…"

"I'm going to talk to him later and make him understand. I won't have him taken by surprise when I don't wake up…" Mira yawned and slid her hand out of her friend's grasp. "I'm so tired…I must have slept for half a day though…Mara, please watch over me while I close my eyes for a few minutes."

"I won't look away," Mara swore.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer swore under his breath as he watched the television at the Bloody Hook. They were doing another story on how his racing seemed to be off and were blaming it on his wife. Well of course it was his wife! He cared for her and she was dying slowly before his eyes. It was enough to make even the most coldhearted mercenary lose his head and he never expected it to happen to him.

With an evil look at the television, Razer rapped a knuckle on the counter expecting more Wasteland Brew to be sent his way. Sanders didn't offer him any.

"Razer, I haven't had to do this to you for as long as I've known you, but I'm cutting you off," Sanders announced, cleaning a mug with a dirty dishrag. "You don't need anymore alcohol in your system."

No, what he needed was his wife to get better and stop looking like a living corpse. But alcohol was the only thing he could really get these days. And the old bartender was cutting him off!? Who did he think he was telling this champion that he couldn't have any more alcohol?

"You need to go home to your wife," Sanders continued with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "If what you've told me is true, you may not have much time left with her…You should spend every moment you can with her when you're not racing, Razer. Maybe she'll get better with your company, but hey, I'm a bachelor. I don't know what you're going through…"

Razer frowned at the bartender and got up, sticking his cigarette back in between his lips. Without another word to the old bartender, Razer turned and left the Bloody Hook.

Sanders was, of course, right and he usually was. Razer knew he should be by his wife's side more, but he just couldn't stand to. He couldn't stand to see her look so weak and lifeless. She was supposed to be a vibrant twenty-eight year old enjoying every minute of her life while he was supposed to be a tired forty year old, but she wasn't. She was slipping away right before his very eyes and he couldn't stand to see it. He expected to die long before his young wife, but she was beating him to it and he hated her for that.

As he stepped out into the sun, Razer watched Mara's car zoom past. For once, the girl didn't grind her car up against a wall when she made a tight turn. He knew then that it was his turn to go home and watch his wife.

"Mira…" he sighed and walked slowly over to his Havoc.

It took him less than ten minutes to get to his mansion. He slowly walked into it through the garage and turned some lights on. His heart jumped in his chest when he saw that Mira was standing in the hall using the wall as a support. Even from where he stood, he could see that her legs were trembling underneath her and knew that at any second she would fall and probably hurt herself.

"Mira, you know you're not supposed to get out of bed," Razer said, trying to keep the snappiness out of his voice as he walked over to support his wife. "The doctor doesn't want you to overexert yourself."

Mira smiled weakly and let him pick her up. Razer hated how light she felt in his arms and blamed the disease for making her waste away.

"Razer," she whispered, resting her head against his shoulder. "Please take me out for another ride…"

"No. You're going back to bed."

"Please Razer," she was begging now. "Please take me out for a short ride…a joyride like you used to take me out for…please."

Razer shook his head and started walking in the direction of their room. Mira made a sound of protest and started pounding her fist against his chest as hard as she could. Razer was taken aback by her sudden fit of anger and stopped in his tracks.

"Razer, take me out now!!" Mira commanded. "I'm your boss and you have to listen to me!"

Mira had never played the boss card before. She had always let him do what he wanted, when he wanted and she never seemed to have a problem with it. She had promised never to command him to do anything and here she was, ordering him to take her for a joyride of all things.

"Mira, you're in no condition to go outside," Razer stated.

Mira wrapped her hand in the cloth of the front of his coat and yanked on it so he was pulled closer to her face. "You take me outside Razer or I'll ask Shiv to leave his family for an hour and take me on a joyride himself…"

Razer ground his teeth together at the idea of his crony taking his wife out on a joyride. Joyrides were something that a couple should do together and there was no way in Hell that he'd let Shiv, of all people, take his wife out on a joyride.

"No Mira. You're not going out."

"Razer, please!! I just want to spend more time with you!" Mira pleaded, tears swimming in her green eyes. "Why won't you just go out with me for one fucking hour?"

"Mira…"

In all his years of knowing her, he had never heard her swear like that. To hear such a word on her lips was…odd.

Mira buried her face in Razer's shoulder and her body trembled as a spot on his shoulder grew wet. Razer stood there, holding his wife and silently begged the Precursors for help for the first time in a long time.

"Mira, if it'll make you feel better, then I will take you out on a joyride," Razer said slowly. "But only for an hour. Then you must go back to bed."

Mira nodded into his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his neck. "Thank you Razer…"

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Mira leaned against Razer as he sped around town. She wasn't strong enough anymore to sit comfortably in the passenger's seat without bumping into the door and falling over, so Razer kept a firm arm around her trembling body. When he glanced down at her, he could see a small smile on her face. And even though she was wasting away, he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Razer, thank you for loving me," Mira whispered, resting her head against him. "Without your love…I don't know if I'd still be around or have a family."

"Mira, don't act like you're saying goodbye," Razer ordered quietly. "We've already been through this. You're not going to die until you're old and gray."

Mira smiled slightly. "Razer, you know I'm dying. I know I'm dying soon. And I don't want you to be scared to admit that…You've never been scared of anything except proposing marriage and holding Razer II when he was first born…"

Razer frowned. "Mira, you're not going to die anytime soon. I know I'm a firm believer of ladies first, but in this case it should be _men_ first."

"Razer, if you were sick and dying, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want me to be in denial…You'd want me to prepare to move on with my life and raise our children as if nothing bad had happened…Well, I'm going to ask you to do the same thing…"

Razer turned the Havoc sharply and Mira's eyes sparkled with dim happiness. "You're asking me to give you permission to die. Well, if it keeps you alive, I won't give you any."

Mira sighed. "Razer, you can probably tell that I'm getting weaker. Our sex life has kinda taken a nose dive even if we have it every other night…You've been so gentle with me and to tell you the truth, I hated it at first, but now I know you're just trying to be considerate of my broken body." She turned her head slightly and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "But you're going to have to be able to love someone as fiercely as you loved me when we were both happy and young in our love before the sickness was even thought of in our lives. I want you to make someone else happy."

"I'll take no other after you."

"You will so! Our children need a mother figure in their lives and you know that the kids only view Mara as an aunt. That's not what they need when I die."

"Then don't die." A simple solution that was completely impossible. "Wait until you're one hundred and one and then you can die."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Razer if I live that long, I'll be extremely lonely because you'd be gone…Besides, you know as well as I do that it's not possible anymore."

"We haven't tried Dark Eco yet," Razer pointed out.

Mira pushed herself away from him. "Razer, we've been through this before. I am not pumping Dark Eco into my body in an attempt to kill the sickness. The side effects are far worse than the sickness itself."

"You'll only have a dark side Mira and all that'll do is make you want to kill more people more often…And your eye color will change. That's it."

"I'll also die younger."

"Jak hasn't died yet. Unfortunately."

Mira's eyes narrowed at the rude comment about her friend. "Jak also has a good side and that keeps his dark side at bay while preventing the harmful side effects from occurring…I may not be that lucky because I'm no hero and the Precursors didn't chose me for anything special. I don't want to die a wicked creature with blood on my hands."

Mira was appalled by the idea of Dark Eco in general. She only liked Jak because he was really a considerate man who had almost completely conquered his Dark Jak tendencies. And Razer wanting her to turn into one of those creatures…it was too much.

She rested her elbow on the passenger side door and rested her forehead on the palm of her hand. "Razer, why won't you just let me die the way I want to? Why do you always have to try to reassure me that things will get better when we both know that I'm only going to get worse if I continue to live like this?"

"It's what a husband is supposed to do. And a champion never gives up."

"A _true _champion knows when it's time to give up," Mira shot back wearily.

Razer winced. He _hated _the idea of giving up even though he had given up on trying to murder Jak when the blonde had become friends with Mira. Giving up on her was something he really didn't want to do.

"Mira, I'll never give up on you. No matter how much you beg and plead. I don't care if you cry. I'm not going to let you die."

Mira laughed lightly. "You should have been a poet or a singer with all the rhyming you can do…" She sighed. "But Razer, I'm telling you that tonight is my last night on this planet. And I want to settle a few things with you before I go."

Razer shook his head and turned the car sharply to avoid scraping against a wall. Mira slid against him and he wrapped his arm around her again, holding her securely by his side.

"You know I've kept a journal ever since I became pregnant with Razer II. Well, there are several entries that I want played for the children on birthdays and holidays. I want them to know that I love them and that I'll always be in their hearts if they need me…"

Razer gave a curt nod.

"I also met with some people and have had titles transferred over. You are now the boss of yourself and the rest of the people Uncle left to me. Do what you want with this power, but make sure that Rayn can still live comfortably. I won't have her living on the street or dead because of a hate between the two of you."

"Three of us," Razer muttered. "You, me, and her."

Mira shook her head. "I've already talked to her today. We've worked out our problems and put our hate in the past. If I were still going to be around for awhile, we could have even gone back to the way we were when we were children…So close, so happy…"

Mira sniffled and looked down at her hands for a moment, trying to control her emotions. Razer waited patiently for her to continue.

"I also had a talk with Kiera…She still doesn't like me as a friend, but she doesn't hate me anymore. I asked her to help you teach Jezebel how to fix cars…"

"That grease whore doesn't know a GB Spanner from a wrench," Razer mumbled with a small smirk.

"She's smarter than you give her credit for Razer. She can do things you can't and I want her to teach Jezebel so you'll have a daughter capable of creating a whole new line of combat racing cars." She sighed again, forcing her eyes to stay open. "Your name would become a brand name all over the world."

Razer could see what she had visualized and he had to admit that if the name of Razer became a brand name, he would be able to retire comfortably someday. Maybe he shouldn't give up on Jak's grease whore so fast.

"I want you to let the children spend time with Jak and his friends too. I know you don't like them, despite everything I've done to make it easier for you two to get along, but you'll have to get over that. Jak and his friends can teach our children things that will help them survive in this dangerous world of ours and how to use their power to help others…"

Razer rolled his eyes. Why did she have to always want what was good for _others_? Why didn't she want what was good for _her_?

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Razer!" Mira snapped, her anger flaring up briefly. "If you don't respect my requests, I'll – I'll haunt you forever!"

"Yes. That's a very terrifying threat, Mira," Razer commented sarcastically. "You should use it more often on people. Maybe you'll scare some children into giving you their lunch money…hm, hm, hm…"

Mira groaned. "Razer…this final request, I'm sure you're going to want to deny with your whole being, but I hope that someday you'll go through with it…"

"What is it?"

"After I die, I want you to find someone else to love and marry her or him…whichever you decide…"

Razer slammed his foot on the brake and the car jerked to a complete stop. He stared down at Mira with a mean glint in his eyes.

"One, I am not gay. Two, I'm not going to marry someone after you die. Three, you're not going to die tonight or tomorrow night!" Razer snarled. "Understand?"

Mira shook her head slowly. "Razer, get over it! I'm dying! I'm dying tonight and there's nothing you can do about it! There's nothing anyone can do about it! So just accept it and move on with your damn life!!"

Mira's chest heaved after she shouted at him and her body trembled. Her chest hurt and a headache was forming. She could feel the tears trickling down her cheeks, but couldn't do anything about it.

"Razer, I just want the pain to stop…" she breathed. "I want my family to be happy that the pain is going to end soon…I can't stand to have my family watch me suffer, so please don't make me…Please…"

Razer gently wiped away her tears with his thumb and held her close to him. She was so small and fragile in his arms and he wanted to hold onto her forever. Gently, he stroked her hair and rocked her slowly as she cried.

"Mira, if this is what you want…I suppose I can't do anything to stop you," Razer whispered into her hair, breathing in the scent of lilacs. "But I'm not happy about you dying."

"I don't want you to be happy about my death. I want you to be happy for me finding peace…" She reached up and placed a hand against his neck. "And I want you to know that I love you with every fiber of my being."

Razer tilted her chin up and kissed her gently. Mira smiled a small contented smile when he pulled away. Razer looked ahead again and starting driving.

Mira's head was starting to feel heavy as were her eyelids. Her breathing became shallow and she was starting to feel very sleepy.

"Razer, I'm tired…" Mira yawned, nestling closer to him. "Can we go home now?"

Razer could feel his wife grow colder through the sleeve of his coat. He knew that home wasn't the place for her right now. "Sure. We'll go home and I'll put you to bed. I'll even read to you…"

"Mm…that sounds good," Mira breathed, letting her eyes close.

Razer spun the car around and tore down the street in the direction of the hospital.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

Razer looked up when he heard the door open. It was Jak and Daxter leading Razer's and Mira's three children into the room with Sig following close behind. He stared at his children for a moment as they lined up on the other side of Mira's hospital bed.

Razer II looked so much like him even as an eight year old, but he had his mother's eyes. Jezebel was the spitting image of her mother and Gerard, her six year old twin, had the same face, but had Razer's eyes. Right now, each brother had an arm around their sister, comforting her as she sniffled.

The machines beeped quietly in tune with Mira's faint heartbeat, shattering the silence that hung in the air. Her chest rose and fell with each shallow breath she took. The light blue of the hospital gown she wore made her appear whiter than a sheet.

"How's she doing?" Sig asked, putting a hand on Gerard's small shoulder as he watched Mira sleep.

Razer stopped himself from snapping at the man that his wife was dying. "The doctor thinks she won't make it through the night," was his answer.

"Maybe she'll prove him wrong," Jak muttered as Daxter jumped from his shoulder onto Razer II. "She has a tendency to do that…"

Razer nodded and gently rubbed the back of Mira's hand with his thumb. Jezebel started crying and turned away from her mother. Sig reached down and scooped the little girl up in his arms, patting her on the back comfortingly.

Mira stirred on the bed, barely opening her eyes. "Jezebel…is she – is my baby crying Razer?"  
He nodded and Mira turned her face in the direction of her daughter's sobs. "Oh honey, please don't cry…Mommy's going to be all right. Mommy's just going to go to that special happy place that I told you about."

Jezebel looked at her mother with tears streaming down her face. Razer's heart broke at the sight of his crying daughter.

"You're going to go see Uncle Krew and Grandma in their new house," Jezebel muttered, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. "Right?"

Mira nodded and smiled slightly. "I'm going to their mansion to prepare a place for you and your brothers and Daddy so when you get there, you'll have a place to sleep and play."

Razer II and Gerard shared a look, obviously knowing what was going on, but unwilling to upset their sister anymore. Mira reached a hand out and patted her eldest son's hand.

"You be a good boy and make sure your sister doesn't get a boyfriend until she's at least thirty," she commanded gently.

"Yes Mom," he said, sounding just like Razer did when he was younger.

"And you," Mira continued, looking at Gerard. "You listen to your father and all your uncles and aunts. Understand?"

"Yes Mommy," Gerard replied.

Mira smiled and closed her eyes for a moment. "Daxter…"

"Yeah hot thing?" Daxter said, jumping onto the bed, trying to keep the mood light.

Mira giggled. "Keep making people smile and keep loving Tess…You deserve some happiness in your life…"

Daxter smiled. "Don't worry babe. I've got a million jokes."

"I'm sure you do."

Razer didn't even grind his teeth together at the way Daxter was talking to Mira. He wanted her to be happy when she left the world, so he would patiently listen to them say goodbye in their own ways.

"Sig," Mira said, looking at him.

"Hey there, cherry," Sig said gently.

"You'll keep teaching my kids how to use weapons to protect themselves when I'm gone, right?"

"Sure thing." He laughed lightly. "I'll even get them to use the Peace Maker 'cause I'll make them strong like me."

"Thank you," Mira whispered then her eyes turned to Jak. "Jak, I don't think I need to ask you to help my kids when I'm gone."

"Don't worry Mira, I'll be there for them." Jak swore, briefly glancing over her at Razer. "Any time, anywhere. Everyone will be there for them."

Mira sighed and sank further into her pillow. "You, Sig, and the others have been great friends to me despite where I came from and who I married…I couldn't ask for better friends. I'll miss you all…

"And kids, you've made me so proud. I love you all so much and I promise I'll watch over you from where I'm going…"

She turned her head slightly and looked at Razer. "And you…I've loved you even before we met at the Bloody Hook eleven years ago. And my love for you has only grown since that meeting. I want you to know that even though you've never said 'I love you', I know you love me. Otherwise you wouldn't have put with me for so long…" She smiled. "I love you, Razer."

Razer stood up and picked her up in his arms before sitting down on the bed, cradling her against his chest possessively. Mira snuggled closer to him and stroked his cheek lovingly.

"It's time for me to go Razer," Mira whispered, her eyelids drooping.

"I know," Razer said, rubbing her back gently. "I just want to tell you one thing before you go."

Her voice was getting fainter. "What is it?"

"Mira…I…" He rolled his eyes at how hard it was to say it. "Mira, God dammit! I love you."

He could practically see Daxter's shocked face even though he had his back to the annoying little Ottsel. He wasn't concerned about the annoying orange furball though. He only cared about his wife.

Mira smiled a wan smile though her eyes remained closed. "I love you too…"

Razer felt the life leave Mira's moments before the machines let out a never ending beep. Her body grew heavier in his arms and Razer felt tears slide out from his normally cold eyes. The clear drops of sadness fell onto Mira's face and he gently wiped them away.

He didn't even stiffen when Jak put a hand on his shoulder to show his support for the older man. Razer silently thanked the blonde and continued to stroke Mira's cold, but peaceful face.

"Mira, I love you…" he whispered through the tears as his daughter began to cry again.

**X.X.X.X.X.X**

**A/N: And now Mira is dead. I had to do it. I really had to. If you don't like it, you can tell me about it, but just know that it had to be done.**

**Also, I am considering putting up another chapter which will be centered around Mira's and Razer's children when they're teenagers and young adults. Let me know if you think I should do that…Please!! Reviews are nice. Flames are okay. So, click the button and share your thoughts with me.**


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